

Hard Tech x AI in 2025
AI has become manifest in the world around us. It’s designing molecules, retooling factories, and taking the wheel of 80,000-pound trucks. Join First Star Ventures during Tough Tech Week for an evening with two startups transforming industries at the intersection of hard tech and AI.
Bot Auto
Bot Auto is an autonomous trucking company developing and operating a Transportation as a Service (TaaS) fleet for freight customers. They recently did a full driver-out demo.
Paul Lam is Bot Auto's Chief Strategy Officer and will share stories from their journey raising $50m+ in capital, building their technology, partnering with customers, and preparing for road tests.
Robigo
Robigo is a biomanufacturing company using gene editing and AI to develop safer, more effective crop protection products. Robigo’s scalable, plug-and-play microbial platform protects crops from disease, boosting yields while being safe for beneficial microorganisms, pollinators, consumers, and the environment.
Andee Wallace is co-founder and CEO of Robigo and will talk about building Robigo from an idea at a lab at MIT to raising venture capital, working with farmers, and deploying their microbes into fields.