Tag: automation

Vertical farm GoodLeaf Farms plots Canadian expansion with McCain-led $150m raise

December 7, 2022

Vertical farms in Calgary and Montreal will enable GoodLeaf Farms to serve Canadian customers coast to coast starting in 2023.

Meet the Founder: FlyFeed boss Arseniy Olkhovskiy believes humans will eat a lot more bugs in future

December 2, 2022

The FlyFeed founder describes his journey from working at SaaS startups to building his own insect protein company to combat global hunger.

Verdant Robotics lands $46.5m in fresh funding from Cleveland Avenue, AgFunder & others

November 29, 2022

Verdant technology can spray for weeds, fertilize and treat plants for pests while simultaneously scanning a field and collection data.

Brief: Another blow for indoor farm robotics as Iron Ox lays off nearly half its staff

November 4, 2022

Employees say every part of the indoor farm robotics company was impacted, from engineering to learning and talent to the robotics team itself.

Farm Robotics Market Map: 250 startups automating crop production indoors and outdoors

October 5, 2022

A shift has occurred in the farm robotics category and The Mixing Bowl and Better Food Ventures have put together a market map detailing nearly 250 startups automating various activities on crop farms operating both indoors and outdoors to highlight its depth.

Deere’s investment in InnerPlant is about changing Big Ag. More corporates need to follow suit

September 29, 2022

Deere is investing in not one company but an entirely new way of doing crop protection and, ultimately, commodity farming.

Q&A: LahakX on how drones can make crop scouting ‘truly actionable’ for farmers

September 5, 2022

With its regulatory process now complete, California’s LahakX readies its drone swarming and spot spraying tech for fields in California.

Brief: Solinftec unveils a new weed-killing robot to reduce farms’ needs for chemical inputs

September 1, 2022

The Solix Sprayer can help farms reduce their chemical inputs and deliver a lower carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Midstream Tech startups continue to bolster food supply chains navigating uncertain times

August 31, 2022

Apeel Sciences and Benchling are among the startups addressing the tools and services needed in the middle of the agrifood value chain.

Data Snapshot: Novel farming leads sustainable farming investments in Europe in 2021

July 27, 2022

Sustainable Farming is both under-funded and a major opportunity for investors wishing to get involved with climate tech.

Fyto lands $15m to grow aquatic “superplants” for animal feed and beyond

July 7, 2022

Fyto’s automated grow environments for aquatic plants promise to provide a more sustainable protein base for animal feed, human food, and soil amendments.

Q&A: How Harry Stebbings-backed Pachama is using to tech to improve forest carbon markets

June 3, 2022

Fresh off a Series B fundraise, Pachama discusses how its technology could make forest carbon markets less fragmented and more productive.

Lightsmith Group leads $60m round for digital farm management startup Solinftec

May 2, 2022

Brazil- and US-based Solinftec will expand availability of its precision ag farm management platform to additional growers in North and South America.

Chipotle hopes new $50m fund will continue its ‘technological transformation’

April 21, 2022

Cultivate Next will invest in early-stage restaurant tech that can enhance both guest and employee experiences.

Brief: Relex raises $568m to help grocery retailers fight food waste

February 18, 2022

Food retailers need technologies that can automate the supply chain to minimize disruptions and optimize inventory management.

Tierra Biosciences launches ‘proteins-on-demand’ platform to speed up synbio engineering

February 2, 2022

The US company’s e-commerce portal provides a more efficient way to source proteins for novel food ingredients, drug discovery, and more.

Data Snapshot: Farm robotics startups raised $491m in H1 2021 to automate the basics

December 1, 2021

Many of big deals during H1 involved startups automating simple, everyday tasks within broader agricultural operations.

AgFunder exit review: John Deere’s $250m acquisition of Bear Flag Robotics

August 5, 2021

“When we invested, what I loved about Bear Flag was that they were solving the right problem,” writes AgFunder partner Rob Leclerc about his firm’s exit from the ag automation startup.

Chinese ag & food delivery giants join $100m+ raise for ‘adaptive robot’ startup Flexiv

January 4, 2021

It’s developing robots with force control that can mimic human dexterity to tackle complex but repetitive tasks in agriculture, foodservice, and logistics.

Ocado spends $287m in retail robotics double-swoop

November 3, 2020

The UK firm is buying two US startups, with CEO Tim Steiner seeing “significant opportunities” in robotic manipulation solutions for online retail and logistics.