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- Iron Ox
Iron Ox Funding, Investors & Competitors
Iron Ox has raised $103M across 6 funding rounds, most recently a $53M Series C in September 2021.
Last Iron Ox funding round
$53M
Series C · Sep 2021
Cumulative funding Iron Ox raised
$103M
across 6 funding rounds
Key investors in Iron Ox
Eniac Ventures
Amplify Partners
Y Combinator
Crosslink Capital
Tuesday Capital
Pathbreaker Ventures
R7 Partners
Anorak Ventures
About Iron Ox
Iron Ox is an agtech company specializing in robotic hydroponic farming. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Gilroy, California, it operates AI-controlled greenhouses in Gilroy and Lockhart, Texas. Iron Ox grows high-yield leafy greens, herbs, and strawberries using computer vision, automation, and nutrient delivery systems, producing over 1 million pounds of produce annually while using 90 percent less water than traditional methods.
Founded
2015
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Product sales
Iron Ox Funding History
Iron Ox has raised a total of $103M across 6 funding rounds.
Iron Ox's first fundraising round was a $2M pre-seed round in April 2016. The most recent completed round was a $53M Series C in September 2021.
Iron Ox funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | Series C | Breakthrough Energy Ventures (lead); Eniac Ventures; At One Ventures; Y Combinator; i/o Ventures; R7 Partners; Tuesday Capital; Amplify Partners; Pathbreaker Ventures; Crosslink Capital | $53M | Iron Ox is an autonomous farming startup founded in 2015 that operates semi-autonomous greenhouse facilities using robots and artificial intelligence to grow leafy greens, berries, and herbs. The company's farms require 90% less water than traditional farms and 90% less electricity than LED-based vertical farms according to company claims. In September 2021, Iron Ox closed a Series C funding round of $53 million led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, bringing total funding to $98 million. Additional investors in the round included Crosslink Capital, R7 Partners, Pathbreaker Ventures, i/o Ventures, Amplify Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Tuesday Ventures, At One Ventures, and Y Combinator. The company planned to use proceeds to expand its grocery store presence, accelerate hiring of plant scientists, engineers, greenhouse operators and roboticists, and scale manufacturing and U.S. operations. Iron Ox operates farms in the San Francisco Bay Area, Gilroy California, and Lockhart Texas, with the Lockhart facility being its largest. The company has set a long-term goal of making the produce sector carbon negative and achieving net-zero emissions across its operations. |
| Sep 2020 | Series B | Pathbreaker Ventures (lead); Eniac Ventures; At One Ventures; Y Combinator; R7 Partners; Tuesday Capital; Amplify Partners; Crosslink Capital | $20M | Iron Ox, based in San Carlos, California, develops AI-enabled autonomous technology for robotic greenhouses and farms, aiming to produce fresher, more consistent produce using advancements in plant science, machine learning, and robotics. The company launched the world's first autonomous farm in October 2018 and had begun selling its produce in California by 2019. On September 10, 2020, Iron Ox raised $20 million in a Series B funding round from investors including Amplify Partners, At One Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Eniac Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, R7 Partners, and Tuesday Ventures, with Pathbreaker Ventures as the lead. The funding supported Iron Ox's efforts to expand its robotic farming operations globally and improve food security by servicing communities with fresh produce. Subsequently, Iron Ox raised $53 million in a Series C round on September 22, 2021, from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and continued with additional funding, reaching a total of approximately $96.32 million across multiple rounds by 2022. The company operated in the growing agtech sector alongside competitors like Saga Robotics and Blue White Robotics, which also secured funding for agricultural robotics in 2020. |
| Sep 2019 | Series A | Crosslink Capital (lead); R7 Partners (lead); Eniac Ventures; Tuesday Capital; Amplify Partners; ATEL Ventures | $20M | Iron Ox is an urban agriculture startup founded in 2015 that employs a robotics-first approach to sustainable, scalable indoor vertical farming, producing premium leafy greens like kale and rocket for sale to restaurants and supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Safeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company focuses on automation to address labor shortages in farming, particularly for older farmers, and invests in teams of growers and plant scientists alongside robotic systems. Iron Ox emphasizes produce quality over just robotics, positioning as a farm producing for local markets. The company operates in the competitive indoor farming space alongside peers like Bowery Farming (raised $50 million Series B extension in November 2019, total $172.5 million), Plenty (raised $400 million, over $1 billion valuation), and Agricool ($39 million raised). |
| Jan 2018 | Seed | Amplify Partners (lead); Eniac Ventures (lead); 7percent Ventures; Anorak Ventures; Colin Carrier; Innovating Capital | $3M | Iron Ox is a San Francisco-based developer of robots for crop harvesting and autonomous farming in proprietary greenhouses using robotics, AI, and plant science to reduce agriculture's environmental impact. The company launched its first autonomous farm in 2018. In January 2018, Iron Ox raised $3 million in seed funding led by Eniac Ventures, joined by Amplify Partners and others including 7percent Ventures, Anorak Ventures, Colin Carrier, and Innovating Capital. |
| Oct 2017 | Seed | Formic Ventures (lead); 7percent Ventures | $5M | - |
| Apr 2016 | Pre-seed | Y Combinator (lead); CSC Upshot; Avant Global LLC; Anorak Ventures; Comet Labs; Cherubic Ventures; Pathbreaker Ventures; Vijay Pradeep | $2M | - |
Who has invested in Iron Ox?
21 investors have backed Iron Ox across its funding rounds, including Eniac Ventures, Amplify Partners, Y Combinator, Crosslink Capital, Tuesday Capital and Pathbreaker Ventures.
Lead investors include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Pathbreaker Ventures, Crosslink Capital, R7 Partners, Amplify Partners and 3 other investors.
Iron Ox Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Lead | Jan 2018 | ||
| 4 | Lead | Jan 2018 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Apr 2016 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Sep 2019 | ||
| 3 | Participant | Sep 2019 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Apr 2016 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Sep 2019 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Sep 2020 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Oct 2017 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Apr 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Apr 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Apr 2016 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Sep 2021 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 21 Iron Ox investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialIron Ox Competitors
Iron Ox competitors include listed companies like Tongwei, First Solar and Nextracker, and private ones like Indigo, Pivot Bio and Plenty.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $13B | $461M | $7.4B | 1.5x | ||
| Private | $163M | - | $3.5B | 21.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $2B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.9B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $5.2B | $2.1B | $22B | 4.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $3.6B | $747M | $13B | 2.9x |
Iron Ox Public Comps
Iron Ox is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Siemens, Schneider Electric, ABB, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Delta Electronics (Thailand), Johnson Controls, Emerson Electric, Honeywell and Teradyne.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $91B | $15B | 3.0x | 2.9x | 18.1x | 15.7x | |||
| $46B | $9.5B | 4.3x | 3.9x | 21.0x | 18.4x | |||
| $33B | $6.9B | 5.4x | 4.9x | 25.9x | 22.6x | |||
| $68B | $11B | 2.2x | 2.2x | 13.8x | 13.5x | |||
| $122B | $8.7B | 1.2x | 1.2x | 17.2x | 21.8x | |||
| $5.9B | $1.1B | 15.0x | 11.4x | 80.8x | 64.9x | |||
| $24B | $3B | 4.0x | 3.7x | 31.0x | 20.0x | |||
| $18B | $4.7B | 5.2x | 5.0x | 19.9x | 17.1x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Iron Ox competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Iron Ox
| When was Iron Ox founded? | Iron Ox was founded in 2015. |
| Where is Iron Ox headquartered? | Iron Ox is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is Iron Ox publicly listed? | No, Iron Ox is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has Iron Ox raised? | Iron Ox has raised $103M across 6 funding rounds. |
| What was Iron Ox's last funding round? | Iron Ox's last funding round was a $53M Series C in September 2021, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. |
| Who are Iron Ox's investors? | Iron Ox's investors include Eniac Ventures, Amplify Partners, Y Combinator, R7 Partners, Tuesday Capital, Pathbreaker Ventures, Crosslink Capital, At One Ventures, 7percent Ventures, Anorak Ventures and 11 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to Iron Ox? | Companies comparable to Iron Ox include Tongwei, Indigo, Pivot Bio, Plenty, First Solar and Nextracker. |
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