Hedgehog
Building robotic mushroom farms
About the Company
Hedgehog is a climate tech startup building robotic mushroom farms. By using robots to automate production and AI to optimize growing conditions, we grow mushrooms for ~1/3rd the cost. Soon, we will use fungi to also produce mycelium protein, organic chemicals, and animal feed. Our method of cultivating fungi completes a circular food supply. Fungi transform agricultural waste into protein-rich food without using arable land or irrigation. We’re building technology to efficiently cultivate the broad set of fungal solutions that nature has provided.
Hedgehog is led by Jamie Balsillie (McKinsey & Co., Indigo Ag, Stanford MBA) and Wilson Ruotolo (UVA Engineering, Stanford Robotics PhD) and funded by Y Combinator, Haystack, and Nate Storey (Co-founder & CSO of Plenty Ag).
Tech Stack
We’re building robotics to automate each step of production and AI to optimize growing conditions. Autonomous dexterous manipulation harvests, breaks down, and packages the mushrooms. Computer vision and low-cost sensors power decisions like when to harvest. AI optimizes >30 parameters to maximize yield. Eliminating labor and increasing yield will reduce costs by 70%+.
Founders
Jamie is a co-founder of Hedgehog, building robotic mushroom farms. He previously founded Indigo Carbon, the largest agriculture carbon credit platform. He joined Indigo Agriculture pre-revenue and helped scale sales to >$250m as GM of two new business units. Before Indigo, he worked in software and food at McKinsey & Co. In June 2022, Jamie graduated from Stanford's MBA.
Wilson Ruotolo is a co-founder of Hedgehog, where he designs robotics for mushroom production. He received his PhD from Stanford, studying the design of robotic hands. He collaborated with NASA on end-effectors for martian exploration and his prototypes have been used to retrieve artifacts off the Mediterranean seafloor. He has first author publications in multiple journals, including Science Robotics, and his work is featured in TechCrunch, Popular Science, and Spotify’s Soft Robotics podcast.
Open Positions at Hedgehog (3 Jobs)
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