Hedgehog
SeedRaised Since FeaturedRobotic fungi farms
AI-powered robotic mushroom farms that grow gourmet fungi at one-third the cost of traditional farming.
About
Hedgehog builds automated indoor mushroom farms that combine robotics, computer vision, and AI to dramatically reduce the cost of gourmet mushroom production. Founded by Stanford MBA Jamie Balsillie and Stanford robotics PhD Wilson Ruotolo, the company uses autonomous dexterous manipulation for harvesting and packaging, while AI optimizes over 60 environmental dimensions to maximize yield. Their system transforms agricultural waste into fresh, USDA-certified organic mushrooms — including shiitake, oyster, and pioppino varieties — with near-zero environmental impact. Backed by Y Combinator (S22) and operating farms in Tennessee, Hedgehog aims to build a network of regional robotic farms nationwide.
DailyDropout Take
Hedgehog stood out as a rare combination of deep robotics expertise (NASA-grade dexterous manipulation) and smart market timing in the exploding specialty mushroom space. With Stanford founders who literally built robotic hands for Mars, automating mushroom harvesting felt like a natural — and dramatically cost-effective — application.
Discovery signal: YC S22 standout with Stanford robotics PhD founder, strong investor roster including Collaborative Fund and Pear VC, and a clear path to 3x cost reduction in a growing market.
What Makes Them Unique
Hedgehog combines Stanford robotics expertise with AI-optimized growing environments to automate the most labor-intensive aspects of mushroom farming — harvesting and packaging — achieving costs one-third of traditional operations while maintaining USDA organic certification.
1/3 of traditional farming
Cost Reduction
60+
Environmental Dimensions Optimized
18
Team Size
Target Markets
Founders
Jamie Balsillie
Co-Founder & CEO
Previously founded Indigo Carbon (largest agriculture carbon credit platform) and helped scale Indigo Agriculture sales to $250M+. Stanford MBA 2022. Background in software and food at McKinsey & Co.
Wilson Ruotolo
Co-Founder
PhD from Stanford in robotic hand design. Collaborated with NASA on martian exploration end-effectors. Published in Science Robotics and featured in TechCrunch and Popular Science. BS in Engineering from UVA.
Hedgehog is hiring!
Team size: 18
Funding History
Lead: Y Combinator
Investors
Firms
Individual Investors
Co-Founder & CSO, Plenty Ag