Strawberries are the the most popular berry in the US for both consumers and farmers. They are also some of the most fruits that are from pesticide “Dirty Dozen” list One of the most infected products.
San Luis Obispo, based in California Three -dimensionalness He believes he can help strawberry farmers reduce chemical use with the help of UV light and robots.
The start created a fleet of robot using UV-C Light, an ultraviolet light that is largely blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere, to kill bacteria and harm pest populations. Autonomous tractor size robots can face up to 100 acres and also use gaps designed to absorb error residues without harming the crops.
The company manages its robots on farms overnight as a service, as opposed to selling them directly to farmers, because, while it is more difficult to escalate, this model looked like the right thing to start getting quickly, Adam Stager, co -founder and chief executive.
“We worked a lot with farmers to understand the right way to start technology and what was the right business model,” Stager said. “We have discovered that many of the farmers pay for the control of diseases of harmful organizations as a service, so they come a company and do the spray and what we just did is replacing this as a service model.”
While Stager said the company was very focused on what farmers want, it wasn’t always. In fact, Tric didn’t even focus on Georgia to start.
Stager started the company in 2017, after completing his doctorate in robotics. The company originally focused on 3D robot for SWAT groups. In 2020, Stager decided to rotate in an area that believed he would have a greater impact and began to focus on Georgia.
TechCrunch event
Francisco
|
27-29 October 2025
“I really just wanted to answer the question. If you are going to die tomorrow. You would be happy with what you achieved in your life?” Stager said. “I was like. Okay. I really have to do something harmful that can help many people feel value for myself. I have stumbled upon Georgia on this trip, [and realized] This is a place where we can influence so many people, almost everyone. ”
Stager arrived at the United States Ministry of Agriculture (USDA) to see if there was a technology in which they were working to help commercialize, knowing from his doctoral program that much technology never leaves the lab.
It has been associated with a USDA program that brings to people such as Stager and scientists, who have not yet commented on their work together. This view connects him to UV Light technology that became the basis for the TRIC robotics.
“We loaded two robots we built in my garage over the SUV,” Stager said of him and co -founder Vishnu Somasundaram. “We had two connections that USDA helped us build with the farmers who were willing to give us only a tiny small piece of land in 2021 and this is really the beginning of when this company started.
Now the company, which also counts Ryan Berard as its third co -founder, works with four major strawberry producers, has developed nine robots and has other robots on the street.
Tric Robotics recently set a $ 5.5 million seed round, led by the One Ventures edition with the participation of Garage Capital, Todd and Rahul Capital and Lucas Venture Group, including investment and individual angels.
The company plans to set the money to continue building the fleet of autonomous robots, and Trics finally wants to move to other types of crops.
“I think there will be a truly, really bright future for [agriculture] Tech, “Stager said.” I think people need to know that things are really directed in a big direction, and there are really many exciting things to come. ”
