TerraClear, a startup based in Issaquah, Wash., and Grangeville, Idaho, recently raised $15 million in new funding for its rock-mapping and picking technology solutions for farmers. The company plans to use the funding to grow its sales organization and establish partnerships with original equipment manufacturers. Founded in 2017 by Brent Frei, TerraClear aims to simplify the process of removing large rocks from farmers’ fields. The company’s Rock Picker hardware can be mounted to various machines and pick hundreds of rocks per hour, while its software and AI continue to improve the efficiency of rock mapping and route planning.
TerraClear is not only focused on creating and selling Rock Pickers but also on providing a suite of services to solve the rock problem. The startup offers to map fields with a drone and create a Rock Map for $4 per acre, then partners with a service provider to remove the rocks for between $2 and $9 per acre. By combining the revenue from the maps and services, TerraClear sees an opportunity for local businesses to enhance their offerings without having to build their own service channels. Frei believes that TerraClear’s approach to addressing the rock problem is analogous to what Amazon did with books, creating a platform that can be extended to other types of automation and AI solutions.
As TerraClear expands its operations in Minnesota and Iowa, the company currently has around 100 farming customers paying for its solutions. The startup has also utilized modern marketing tactics by engaging with influencers in the agricultural space such as Millennial Farmer, whose endorsement of TerraClear’s equipment has led to increased interest from other farmers. TerraClear is also focused on developing an autonomous machine for rock picking, with a Bobcat running control software built by the company currently in testing. The goal is to deploy the autonomous system in production this summer.
Having raised a total of $57 million in funding and employing approximately 40 people, TerraClear’s CEO Brent Frei describes the experience of leading the startup as the most fun he has ever had. He is enthusiastic about the potential for growth in the agriculture technology space, given the unique value proposition that TerraClear offers with its rock-mapping and picking solutions. Frei sees the company’s efforts in automation, robotics, and information processing as laying the groundwork for future innovations in the agricultural sector, drawing parallels to the evolution of e-commerce platforms like Amazon. TerraClear’s end-to-end approach to addressing the rock problem sets it apart from other companies in the market, positioning it as a leader in agricultural automation solutions.
