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§ Private Profile · San Carlos, CA, USA
Iron Ox is a technology company.
Iron Ox develops and operates autonomous indoor farms, leveraging advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and plant science to cultivate fresh produce. The company’s integrated system manages the entire growth cycle, from seeding to harvest, within controlled environments. This approach enables precise resource allocation, such as water and nutrients, allowing for optimized growth conditions and consistent, high-quality yields of leafy greens and herbs year-round.
The company was founded by Brandon Alexander and Jon Binney, who envisioned a more efficient and sustainable agricultural paradigm. Alexander, having contributed to robotics at Google X and Willow Garage, combined his deep technical background with Binney’s expertise to create a data-driven farming solution. Their core insight centered on addressing the inefficiencies and environmental impact of traditional farming through automated, localized production.
Iron Ox primarily aims to serve consumers seeking locally grown, nutritious produce through its technologically advanced farms. The company’s long-term vision is to establish a resilient food supply chain that significantly reduces agriculture’s environmental footprint. By deploying smart farm systems closer to population centers, Iron Ox strives to enhance food access and quality for communities.
Iron Ox has raised $84.0M across 6 funding rounds.
Iron Ox has raised $84.0M in total across 6 funding rounds.
Iron Ox has raised $84.0M across 6 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $53.0M Series C in September 2021.
Iron Ox is an agriculture technology (AgTech) startup headquartered in San Carlos, California, specializing in robotic greenhouses and autonomous indoor farming.[1][2][3] The company builds automated farming systems that integrate plant science, robotics, and artificial intelligence to grow high-quality, sustainable produce like leafy greens, achieving 30 times more crops per acre using 90% less water than traditional methods while aiming to make agriculture carbon negative.[1][4] It serves local communities with fresh, consistent, year-round produce, solving problems of food waste, seasonality, high resource use, and environmental impact in conventional farming, with a robotics-first approach that redesigns the entire process from seed to harvest.[1][4] Backed by Y Combinator and employing around 50-100 professionals, Iron Ox has demonstrated growth through facility expansions and key hires like General Counsel Myra Pasek, formerly of Impossible Foods and Tesla.[1][2][3]
Iron Ox was founded in 2015 by co-founder and CEO Brandon Alexander, who drew from his background in robotics at Willow Garage and Google X, combined with his family's agriculture business.[3][4] The idea emerged from leveraging advancements in plant science, machine learning, and robotics to reinvent farming amid global challenges like population growth and resource scarcity, starting with Y Combinator backing to develop robotic greenhouses.[2][4] Early traction came from pioneering autonomous farms, with pivotal moments including engineering custom hydroponic systems optimized for robots and gaining recognition as a leading AgTech innovator in Silicon Valley.[1][3][4]
Iron Ox stands out in vertical farming through these key strengths:
Iron Ox rides the vertical farming and climate tech wave, addressing food security amid climate change, urbanization, and a projected 10 billion global population by 2050 through automated, resource-efficient greenhouses.[2][4] Timing aligns with AI and robotics maturity, enabling scalable precision agriculture that counters traditional farming's vulnerabilities to weather and supply chains.[1][3] Market forces like rising demand for local, sustainable food—driven by carbon removal needs and water scarcity—favor its model, positioning it to influence the AgTech ecosystem by proving robotics can make high-quality produce accessible and eco-friendly.[1][2][4]
Iron Ox is poised to scale its robotic farms nationally, capitalizing on AgTech investments and climate mandates to expand carbon-negative production.[1][2] Trends like AI-driven optimization and policy incentives for sustainable agriculture will accelerate growth, potentially disrupting supply chains with ultra-local greens. Its influence may evolve from innovator to ecosystem leader, partnering with retailers and inspiring robot-centric farming globally—reinforcing its mission to feed the world sustainably, just as it began by rethinking farms from the ground up.[4]
Iron Ox has raised $84.0M in total across 6 funding rounds.
Iron Ox's investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Alven, Ankona Capital, Applied Ventures, Array Ventures, C2 Investment, Cantos Ventures, ENIAC Ventures, Helpful Capital, Kickstart Fund, Rabo Ventures, Stellar Capital.