Hedgehog

About Hedgehog

Hedgehog is a San Francisco, California-based company building robotic mushroom farms using robots to eliminate labor and AI to optimize grow conditions. Founded in 2022 by Jamie Balsillie and Wilson Ruotolo, the Y Combinator S22-backed startup has raised more than million in funding and employs 18 people. The company aims to grow mushrooms for less than one-third the cost of leading growers by integrating robotic automation with controlled environment farming. Their indoor farms use high-tech sensors, AI, and machine learning to create optimal environments for cultivating mushrooms. Computer vision helps robotic arms detect when mushrooms are ready to harvest and determine the optimal picking method. Co-founder Jamie Balsillie was pursuing his MBA at Stanford while Wilson Ruotolo was engineering robotic hands in a lab across campus. Prior to Hedgehog, Jamie founded Indigo Carbon, the largest agriculture carbon credit platform. The company cultivates three USDA Organic certified mushroom varieties: Shiitake (rich and meaty), Oyster (delicate and savory), and Pioppino (nutty and savory). All products are regeneratively farmed, sustainably sourced, and locally grown in Tennessee. Hedgehog operates both retail and wholesale channels, actively pursuing partnerships with local restaurants and stores. The founders believe mushrooms have the potential to change how we eat: they are protein-rich and nutritious (making them a strong plant-based alternative to meat), can be grown sustainably using very little water and power, and have the ability to recycle food waste. Featured by TechCrunch as one of "10 favorite startups from YC's S22 Demo Day."

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