# Laurence Allen

> Laurence Allen is the co-founder and CEO of Terranova, a Berkeley-based startup building autonomous terraforming robots that lift flood-prone land out of harm's way by injecting wood waste slurry deep underground. A UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering graduate (2024) who conceived the idea during a 2021 SpaceX internship, Allen launched the company — originally called Levitree — to save his own hometown of San Rafael, California, which floods to waist depth several times a decade. Terranova closed a $7M seed round in late 2025 at a $25.1M valuation led by Congruent Ventures and Outlander, and can lift one acre of land by one foot per day at a fraction of the cost of traditional seawalls. Allen was named to the 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Energy & Green Tech, took a leave from his Stanford master's program to scale Terranova full-time, and entered 2026 actively pursuing commercial elevation projects across the Bay Area for flood prevention, development, and wetland restoration.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Terranova
- **Organizations:** Terranova, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, SpaceX
- **From:** San Rafael, California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley, M.S. Management Science & Engineering (on leave), Stanford University
- **Known for:** Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2026 (Energy & Green Tech), Raised $7M seed round (3x oversubscribed) at $25.1M valuation, Filed patents on subsurface injection technology during SpaceX internship

## Career timeline

- **2021** — SpaceX internship — conceived the land-lifting concept and filed initial patents
- **2022** — Founded Terranova (originally named Levitree) as a UC Berkeley undergraduate
- **2022-2024** — Developed technology with support from SCET, Berkeley Skydeck, and Bakar Labs; finalist in Collider Cup XV entrepreneurship competition
- **2024** — Graduated UC Berkeley with B.S. in Mechanical Engineering; began master's at Stanford
- **2025** — Rebranded Levitree to Terranova; ran pilot project; appeared on podcasts and major media; featured at Bakar Labs' showcase during SF Climate Week
- **2025-09** — Featured in Inside Climate News for AI-guided robot proposal for San Rafael sea-level rise mitigation and carbon sequestration
- **2025-11** — Closed $7M seed round led by Congruent Ventures and Outlander at $25.1M valuation (3x oversubscribed); participated from GoAhead Ventures, Gothams, and Ponderosa; featured in TechCrunch exclusive
- **2025-12** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2026 list in Energy & Green Tech category; paused Stanford master's to scale Terranova full-time; appeared on Relentless podcast ('How Land Raising Works')
- **2026-01** — Appeared on The Techne Connect podcast discussing autonomous terraforming robots, lessons from SpaceX, and why robotics must focus on real-world problems like flooding and climate resilience
- **2026** — Actively pursuing commercial elevation projects across the Bay Area for flood prevention, development, and wetland restoration; first San Rafael pilot deployment planned to coincide with canal dredging

## Achievements

- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 2026 (Energy & Green Tech)
- Raised $7M seed round (3x oversubscribed) at $25.1M valuation
- Filed patents on subsurface injection technology during SpaceX internship
- Finalist in UC Berkeley's Collider Cup XV entrepreneurship competition
- Featured in TechCrunch, Inside Climate News, Bloomberg, Forbes, and Heatmap News
- Built autonomous robots capable of lifting one acre of land by one foot per day
- Developed a proprietary subsurface model using California's well-core database
- Proposed $92M solution for San Rafael's canal district vs. $500M–$900M traditional seawall cost
- Closed a deal with a major natural disaster mitigation company at the time of the seed round announcement
- Admitted to Stanford's Management Science & Engineering master's program before taking leave to run Terranova

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — As of mid-2026, Terranova is in active commercial operations mode, pursuing elevation projects across the Bay Area for flood prevention, development, and wetland restoration; the San Rafael canal district pilot remains the flagship deployment target.
- **2026-01** — Appeared on The Techne Connect podcast (January 29, 2026) discussing how Terranova builds autonomous terraforming robots to lift land out of flood zones, sharing lessons from SpaceX and making the case that robotics must tackle real-world problems like climate resilience.
- **2025-12** — Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 2026 list in the Energy & Green Tech category; profile highlights Terranova's wood-chip injection robots and carbon-sequestration revenue model. Also appeared on the Relentless podcast ('How Land Raising Works') on December 11, 2025.
- **2025-12** — Took a leave of absence from his Stanford Management Science & Engineering master's program after the fall 2025 quarter to scale Terranova full-time.
- **2025-11** — Terranova closed $7M seed round at $25.1M valuation, led by Congruent Ventures and Outlander, with participation from GoAhead Ventures, Gothams, and Ponderosa; round was 3x oversubscribed. Simultaneously closed a deal with a major natural disaster mitigation company.
- **2025-11** — Featured in a TechCrunch exclusive profile on Terranova's terraforming robot mission; covered by Heatmap News' 'Wackiest Climate Tech Bets of 2025' and multiple other outlets including WebProNews, DigitrendZ, and Goodmans LLP.
- **2025-09** — Inside Climate News covered Terranova's AI-guided robot proposal for San Rafael sea-level rise mitigation and carbon sequestration; company featured at Bakar Labs' showcase during SF Climate Week 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://terranova.inc
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurence1allen/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/laurence1allen
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAJbpB9aLfI
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurence1allen/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/laurence-allen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-30