Reservoir launches new agricultural robotics incubator for Washington growers

Reservoir, Washington State University’s Prosser Irrigation Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC), the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission (WTFRC), and the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) today announced a new agricultural robotics incubator for Washington growers.

The site will put agricultural robotics startups to work in the state’s orchards, vineyards and berry fields alongside researchers and growers.

The announcement comes as Washington growers face rising labor costs and a shrinking workforce for some of the world’s most difficult crops to automate. These include apples, cherries, pears, blueberries, wine grapes and hops.

Reservoir is an agricultural innovation center and venture capital fund. The organization’s goal is to help agtech startups succeed where agriculture takes place, in the field.

Reservoir has launched its innovation center in the Salinas Valley. It hopes to expand into other key regions of California and the American West. Reservoir VC backs startups solving real problems in high-value crops and robust physical AI stack.

Learn more about Reservoir’s innovation center

Earlier this year, the company officially opened Reservoir Farms – Salinas, its flagship on-farm innovation center for specialty crops. The new site features numerous innovation barns and 24 acres of dedicated commercial test fields. This creates the most concentrated ecosystem of technology leaders, farmers and startups anywhere in the agriculture industry to rapidly scale solutions to global food production challenges.

More than 300 growers, agricultural leaders, federal and state officials, community partners, investors and media attended the grand opening of the Salinas site.

“From the beginning, Reservoir listened carefully to partners to understand where innovation in agriculture was stuck,” said Danny Bernstein, founder and CEO of Reservoir. “Once our vision of creating an innovation center on the farm was clear, we worked tirelessly with partners across the industry to bring the energy, focus and expertise needed to manifest the space and people needed to make this a reality. With the doors open, the focus shifts to execution and impact, in the form of real solutions for farmers, skilled jobs for rural communities and a more secure food supply for American consumers.”

Last summer, Reservoir announced plans to expand its in-house innovation center model into California, Arizona and other major growth regions. Each hub will be supported by major academic and research and development institutions.

As part of this multi-regional strategy, Reservoir invited startups to conduct pilot projects during the winter months at the University of Arizona’s Yuma Agricultural Center. The startups had the opportunity to test technologies in the commercial production of desert vegetables.

In August, Reservoir announced a three-year, $10 million research and development partnership with John Deere. The partnership aims to accelerate the development and real-world commercialization of robust AI technologies for high-value agricultural agriculture. It builds on a relationship that began with the founding of Reservoir in 2024.

Deere said the partnership with Reservoir reflects its “commitment to an innovation ecosystem that moves faster from prototype to grower impact.”