Meet these two 22-YO engineers who built India’s first AI-powered Robot that burns weeds with lasers instead of pesticides

Rahul Arepaka and his friend George Mathew had an unconventional dream to solve the issue of weeds in farms without using harmful chemicals. They were engineering students at Mahindra University, Hyderabad. Setting this intention, the two friends started developing the technology in an incubator at the University.

In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, Rahul shared the journey of founding a deeptech startup while pursuing Engineering. 

“Farming shouldn’t be hard,” said Rahul. “Feeding the world should be beautiful, and we’re designing robots to make it so by battling weeds.” 

Launching a robotics startup

Rahul Arepaka and George Mathew founded Harvested Labs in 2023 while doing their B.Tech.

The deeptech startup was launched to protect farmers with advanced robotic solutions to protect their crops from weeds and ensure healthier harvests.

Rakshak, India's first AI-powered laser-weeding robot from Harvested Labs, combats weeds without harming the crops.

“A farmer spends almost Rs 15,000 for weeding, which has to be done at least three to four times during an entire season. It costs almost Rs 60,000 per year. The other option is using chemicals, but we wanted to build a solution that is good for the farmer as well as the planet,” Rahul shared with Startup Pedia.

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The tech behind Harvested Labs

The Hyderabad-based startup uses high-power lasers to burn the weeds instead of applying the usual chemicals. Rahul said they have built a laser technology for farm tractors, which is a first in India.

“You can basically put it behind a tractor,” said the young entrepreneur. “Implements for tractors that have cameras to detect weeds and burn them by laser.”

The entire process is tractor-powered and tractor-dependent.

Rahul and George founded Hyderabad-based Harvested Labs at college while they were in their 4th year. They graduated in 2024. Rahul told Startup Pedia that they are still developing the technology.

“We are collecting data from farms and have developed our own camera boxes for data collection,” he shared.

The Engineers-turned-startup founders have deployed cameras across farms in India. The intention is to build a data set for detecting weeds using the collected data.

“Currently, only 12 countries across the globe are solving weeding using lasers,” Rahul disclosed to Startup Pedia. “We are the only company in India to solve this issue.”

Harvested Labs is a laser weeder company to help farmers solve the big challenge of weeding without chemicals and labourers.

Current stage of the startup

Presently, 8-10 engineers are sitting in Hyderabad developing this technology.

While at school and college, both Rahul and George participated in robotics competitions that initiated an interest in deep tech in their young minds. 

“A lot is required to build the hardware,” Harvested Labs co-founder Rahul shared with Startup Pedia.

Investments

Mahindra University invested around Rs. 20 Lakhs in Harvested Labs.

In March, they raised roughly Rs. 5 crore in a pre-seed round from Bangalore-based VC Arali Ventures. Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra is an angel investor in the company.

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Revenue, order generation

The company is currently in a pre-revenue stage that is about to open pre-orders for its product around the country.

“A few hundred farmers have already signed up on our website for the machine,” claimed Hyderabad entrepreneur Rahul Arepaka.

In a couple of months, the deeptech startup is going to pull a bunch of dealers in India.

“We are not going to sell directly to farmers but through dealers,” the co-founder shared with Startup Pedia.

They want to sell directly to dealerships where farmers can buy the machines, and a few can rent them out.

“We’ll continue to sell spare parts, give a warranty,” said Rahul.

Till now, Harvested Labs has built everything in-house. The 8-member  R&D focused team is building pure technology.

“It takes time to build the software around the high-resolution images we collect, and the AI around it,” the Hyderabad-based startup founder shared.

They are fine-tuning the laser weeder for multiple weed cases and intend to launch the product early next year after doing more pilots.

“Companies approach us because weeding is a serious issue faced by farmers; they have to use expensive labour,” said Rahul.

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Recognition, events

Last October, Rahul and his team went to FIRA, California, a global event where all agri-robotic companies come down.

“We were a part of the startup showcase, we were the top 10 shortlisted companies,” he added.

Recently, Harvested Labs went viral for hiring a dog as a Chief Happiness Officer.

Goals

In the next 3-4 years, Rahul’s team wants to reach Indian farms and next start exporting their machine to the West.

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Challenges

Rahul Arepaka told Startup Pedia that not many Indian companies are making the electronic components for weeding.

“If Indian companies focus on building the components, we won’t have to import from China,” he said.

The second challenge is that not many investors are keen on investing in deeptech.

The third big problem is human resources.

“Not many talented software engineers with expertise in hardware, like electronics, are available in the market,” the Harvested Labs cofounder remarked. “Attracting talent and retaining it is a big challenge.”

“Anyone interested in working in the agri-robotic sector should come and work with us,” he added.

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