Tric Robotics continues expansion as farmers adopt its tech
It’s a lot of risk for farmers to trust new technology on their land. An unforeseen accident could lead to millions in lost produce for people who already work on hyper-thin margins. As a result, patience is a necessary virtue for those who specialize in agriculture tech.
Adam Stager, founder of San Luis Obispo-based Tric Robotics, knows this well and after years of putting in the work to show farmers the efficacy and efficiency of his technology, he is beginning to reap the rewards.
“This journey has been a lot of fun, but it’s something that when you are working every day, you don’t really realize how much it has grown,” Stager told the Business Times. “It has just felt natural getting to each step of this journey and into the next ones.”
Tric Robotics specializes in manufacturing robotic tractors with large panels attached that bathe crops in Ultraviolet light as a form of pesticide-free pest control. There are also bug sucking vacuums on the machines, named Luna, which is Spanish for moon.
The tractors mainly operate at night, covering about 30 acres a night. Stager likened them to a Roomba where if the machine covers one area one night, in about four days it will make its way back to that original area and begin the process anew.
The company focuses specifically on the strawberry market for now, Stager said. Pest control, in strawberries alone, represents a $250 million market opportunity. Stager believes the company could become a $100 million annual recurring revenue on strawberries alone.
“Strawberry farmers don’t want to buy million-dollar machines like they do in leafy greens,” Stafer said. “But the ROI for farmers is insane.”
Stager cited a study from The Strawberry Center in Santa Maria, a Cal Poly research and education facility focused on the California strawberry industry that conducts experiments and collaborates with growers in Santa Maria, which found that farmers made several thousands of dollars more per acre if Tric’s vacccums were being run.
“That’s not even talking about the light, that’s just the vacuum’s, so those kinds of case studies are just incredible and validating for us,” Stager said.
As a result, the company is continuing to expand. Stager said that the company is up to about 12 robots spread throughout five different farms. Tric is also up to about 27 full-time employees.
Tric is also expanding its reach. Though it has primarily operated in the Santa Maria area, Tric recently debuted its Luna robot on an Oxnard field, another main area where strawberries are grown.
“If you look at strawberries, the world’s second largest market is grown right here along the Central Coast, and there are only three growing regions, Watsonville, Santa Maria and Oxnard. And if you look at Santa Maria and Oxnard, the plant spacing is very similar, and Oxnard is very well known for their willingness to adopt new technology, and they’re also very large rectangular blocks, so it’s huge fields with farmers who are most excited about adopting new technology, and the spacing is very similar to Santa Maria, which made it like the best place to go,” Stager said.
Part of how Tric was able to expand was thanks to a $5.5 million seed round the company raised this summer. Version One Ventures led Tric Robotics’ seed round. Garage Capital, Todd and Rahul Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Lucas Venture Group, Spacecadet, and Redstick Ventures also participated.
“We have made incredible progress, with our fleet of robots reducing chemicals on hundreds of acres across California’s Central Coast,” Stager said. “This new capital will accelerate our growth, bringing in key team members and allowing us to quickly expand with new regions and capabilities launching this summer.”
Steady growth is still at the heart of the company’s goals. He does not want to just build a slew of new robots tomorrow; he wants to continue growing Tric the only way he knows how.
“The next step for us is trying to pair demand with production and manufacturing. We’re focused a lot on figuring out how to reduce our Bill of Materials. We really don’t want to build too many robots and have a lot of debt unless we know exactly where they’re going,” Stager said. “But I feel like we are just at the beginning of our growth.
Despite beginning to see a brighter future for the company, Stager never wants to forget his roots. Tric’s involvement in the Cal Poly entrepreneurship program is still high, as Stager believes being able to tell his founder’s story is important to others hoping to do the same.
The company received the Audience Choice Award at Cal Poly’s 2022 AngelCon business plan competition. While the competition’s more than $100,000 in equity financing went to two other startups, Stager said the event still paid off as some audience members wound up investing in Tric Robotics, showcasing how being involved in these programs could prove to be huge.
“We’re just like normal people building a company, not like billionaires or anything like that. So anyone can get into this and there are a lot of amazing resources that they can take advantage of,” Stager said.
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