Steve Tanner

Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder Ecorobotix

Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026

Executive Summary

Steve Tanner is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ecorobotix, a Swiss company in Yverdon-les-Bains that builds AI-driven sprayers that detect and treat individual plants instead of blanket-spraying a field. He and Aurélien Demaurex founded the company in 2014. Tanner’s background is in microelectronics research, and he grew up helping on his parents’ farm. Ecorobotix has since grown to more than 250 employees and in March 2026 announced its 1,000th ARA ultra-high-precision sprayer sold. Tanner also works in conservation as a trustee of A Rocha International and president of the board of A Rocha Switzerland.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded Ecorobotix in 2014 with Aurélien Demaurex, with early funding from the Foundation for Technological Innovation.
• Chief Technology Officer, leading the technology behind ARA, which combines artificial intelligence with ultra-high-precision spraying.
• A member of the management team under CEO Dominique Mégret, who took office in March 2024.
• CTO through the company’s June 2021 Series C and its $52 million round in May 2023, and as sales of ARA reached 1,000 units by March 2026.
• Trustee of A Rocha International since early 2021, representing Southern Europe and West Asia, and president of A Rocha Switzerland’s board.

Professional Journey

Tanner trained as an engineer and completed a PhD in microelectronics. He then spent about ten years as a research manager in electronics research and development. His interest in agriculture was personal: as a young man he often helped on his parents’ farm in rural Switzerland.

Ecorobotix began when he met Aurélien Demaurex at an environmental conservation gathering. They asked, in the company’s words, “what if every weed could be treated individually instead of spraying an entire field?” They founded Ecorobotix in 2014, built prototypes, and secured early funding from the Foundation for Technological Innovation to become a startup. As CTO, Tanner explained what the company had built at the time of its June 2021 Series C: “unique technology combining Artificial Intelligence and ultra-high precision spraying to address tomorrow’s agricultural challenges.”

That technology became the ARA sprayer, which Ecorobotix says cuts herbicide and pesticide use by 70–95% while raising yields. In May 2023 the company raised $52 million, led by AQTON Private Equity and Cibus Capital, with BASF Venture Capital, Yara Growth Ventures and Swisscom Ventures among the other investors. In March 2024 Dominique Mégret became CEO, joining a management team in which Tanner remained CTO and Demaurex served as CFO. By March 2026, Ecorobotix reported more than 250 employees, machines in use in more than 30 countries, and 1,000 ARA sprayers sold.

Outside the company, Tanner is active in nature conservation. He chairs the board of A Rocha Switzerland and in early 2021 joined the board of A Rocha International as a regionally appointed trustee for Southern Europe and West Asia.

Education

Tanner holds a PhD in microelectronics, according to his A Rocha International biography. The awarding institution was not confirmed in the sources reviewed.