How TartanSense is Building Small Robots for Small Farms in India
TartanSense builds small land-based robots for small farms and smallholder farmers initially focused on pesticide application.
Tag Archives: automation
iUNU Raises $7.5m for Greenhouse “System-as-a-Service” Tech Platform Using Computer Vision
iUNU hopes to take some of the old school manual data entry aspects of greenhouse operation into the 21st century by automating as much of the greenhouse maintenance process as possible.
How Jain USA Has Quietly Built a High-Tech Irrigation Platform Through Acquisitions
I caught up with Aric Olsen, president of Jain USA, are his most recent acquisition of ETWater, a weather data analytics and sprinkler control company using machine learning to measure the evapotranspiration rate of grass.
Cargill Aims to Improve Worker Safety with Remote Controlled Herding Robot for Livestock
Cargill is bringing robots to its meat processing facilities in the hope of improving animal welfare, worker safety, and efficiency with a robotic cattle herder.
Bear Flag Robotics Raises $3.5m Seed Round to Automate Common Tasks on the Farm
The round takes Bear Flag’s total funding efforts to $4.5 million after it took part in the Y Combinator accelerator and raised a pre-seed round in the fall of 2017.
Augmenta Raises $600k Seed Round for Plug & Play Automation on the Farm
The startup manufactures a plug and play device that scans and analyzes crops as a tractor moves across the field capturing 4K video data of every inch of the field.
Phenospex Raises €2m Series A to Expand Novel Sensor Tech into Automation
With its sensor technology, Phenospex aims to get around the constraints of existing sensing options such as RGB and multispectral cameras, to address the over-use of chemicals and fertilizers in industrial farming.
Edete Raises $3m for Bee-Free Pollination Tech
Edete is developing a mechanical solution for pollination as an alternative to using bees.
EXCLUSIVE: Access to Capital is Biggest Challenge to Indoor Farms – Report
Indoor growers say that access to capital is their biggest hurdle, according to a new report from indoor farming software company Agrilyst.
Drones: Farmers Are Looking for True Autonomy Now That the Hype is Over
As the hype fades and more growers test out drones on their own operations, what they really want from drone-focused technology is becoming clearer and raising the bar for startups in the field.
Report: Agriculture in Top 5 Most Automatable Industries, Above Retail
In a comprehensive assessment of the potential for automation by McKinsey, agriculture ranked fourth with a 57% potential for automation, behind accommodation and food services (73%), manufacturing (60%), and transportation and warehousing (60%).
Japan’s Nileworks Raises $7.1m for Crop Spraying Drones
Nileworks claims its multi-copter drones are able to see the shape of a field and spray pesticides just 30cm above, reducing drift.
Motorleaf’s Monk on Priorities and Challenges of Being an AI Startup in Indoor Ag
We caught up with Ally Monk, CEO of motorleaf, a few months after the business raised a $1.1m seed round of funding, to get an update on how the business is progressing.
Protix Raises $50m in Largest Insect Farming Investment on Record
Protix farms insects predominantly for animal and aquaculture feed, and has cracked the scalability challenge, according to new investors.
American Robotics Raises $1.1m Seed for Turn-Key Ag Drone Solution Still in Stealth
The round was led by angel investors and included Brain Robotics Capital, a fund focused on AI, robotics, and IoT.
Abundant Robotics Raises $10m Series A for Apple Picking Robot Led by GV
Abundant will use the proceeds to commercialize its first product, aimed at reducing the $200 billion orchard farming industry’s reliance on seasonal labor.
How Clean Seed’s Wireless Smart Seeder is Set to Disrupt Agriculture
Air seeding technology brought new scale and efficiencies to farming when it was first introduced, but there are several drawbacks, according to Graeme Lempriere, CEO of Clean Seed.
Observant’s 4 Lessons for Agritech Startups in Wake of Acquisition by Jain
Further M&A activity from large agribusinesses like Jain is essential so we caught up with Observant to find out what pieces of advice the cofounder would give to farm-based agritech startups hoping to turn their businesses into acquirable companies.
Agtech Funding Sheet: IoT & Automation, Aquaculture Feed, Weeding Tech, Smart Fridges, more
A bumper week of fundings as we catch up from the holidays offer a diverse look at the types of startups innovating in the food and ag space today.
Prospera Raises $7m Series A for AI and Computer Vision Ag Data Analysis Technology
Prospera, a startup using computer vision, data science, and machine learning to monitor and analyze crops, has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round led by a leading Israeli VC.