Seattle is Blooming as an Agtech Hub, Fueled by Robotics, AI, and a Farming Legacy

(Carbon Robotics Photo)

With top-tier tech talent and a deep farming heritage, Seattle and the broader Pacific northwest are emerging as one of the country’s key hubs for agriculture technology.

The region sits among the nation’s top five agtech ecosystems, said Erik Benson, managing director at Voyager capital, which hosted its first-ever agtech CEO Summit this week in Seattle.

Benson – who grew up on a 2,000-acre farm an hour north of Seattle – cited strengths in robotics, AI, and hardware engineering from institutions like the University of Washington and a strong base of innovative farmers in Eastern Washington and Oregon.

Benson identified three major inflection points for the agtech sector broadly:

The emergence of success stories with billion-dollar outcomes.
A new generation of tech-savvy farmers more open to adopting technology.
A shift from using chemicals in agriculture to leveraging physics, robotics, and AI for greater sustainability and productivity.

After several years of steady growth, investments in agtech startups have fallen as a peak in 2021 ($14 billion across 1,331 deals), with $6.1 billion deployed across 839 deals last year, according to pitchbook.

Despite fluctuations in global venture funding, Benson remains bullish about the sector. The CEOs attending his firm’s event this week have raised more than $1 billion collectively.

He said about 20% of Voyager’s most recent fund went to agtech startups, including four companies in the Pacific Northwest.

One of those is Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based startup that helps farmers eliminate weeds without the use of herbicides. The company, ranked No. 10 on the GeekWire 200 list of top Pacific Northwest startups, has raised $157 million since launching in 2018 and recently rolled out a self-driving platform for tractors.

Carbon Robotics CEO Paul Mikesell, a Seattle software veteran and UW grad, said advances in AI and affordable electronics are driving a “robotic revolution.”

“Agriculture and agtech are at the forefront of that because its just so ripe for disruption,” he said.

Read on for a snapshot of agtech companies in the Seattle area and across the state of Washington. Email us at tips@geekwire.com to let us know if we’re missing any companies.

Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies

Founded: 2008

CEO: