While spray drone uptake in agriculture has been hampered by high costs and low capacity, speed and payloads are increasing continuously, says Rantizo.
Guardian Agriculture has raised $20m in a series A round to expand its autonomous drone technology to farms across the US and ramp-up manufacturing of its SC1 aircraft.
Research finds that 80% of farmers cite input cost as the biggest risk to profitability; more are considering tools like precision ag and biologicals.
With its regulatory process now complete, California’s LahakX readies its drone swarming and spot spraying tech for fields in California.
Bowery announced its acquisition of robotics startup Traptic last week. Here, AFN analyzes the deal and what it means for the wider indoor ag space.
Drones could be revolutionary for Indian agriculture – but their cost means they remain out of reach for most of the country’s farmers.
Tevel is trialling its tethered drone-based system that can harvest fruit from treetops and carry out other tasks, such as pruning, trimming, and thinning.
Many of big deals during H1 involved startups automating simple, everyday tasks within broader agricultural operations.
The Cape Town-based startup considers itself a farming company enabled by technology, rather than a tech company working in ag, says CEO James Paterson.
The startup claims to be the first to receive approval from the US Federal Aviation Authority for drone flights beyond the visual line of sight.
The Suzhou-based startup is targeting the 34% of China’s farmland which is in mountainous areas, much of which is dedicated to fruit, nut, and tea cultivation.
This latest injection follows a $182 million round late last year which was co-led by Baidu Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund II.
Israel’s Tevel has a somewhat sci-fi solution to address the declining availability of human fruit pickers: Flying robots with mechanical claws and AI-powered vision.
The Toronto-based company has pivoted from drones as a core business to offering multi-layer analytics as farmers seek the most bang for their data bucks.
Iowa City’s Rantizo integrates with drones and imaging tech to identify crop protection issues and deliver “precise in-field applications of crop inputs.”
The Guangzhou-based startup offers UAVs for fertilizer and pesticide application, remote sensing, and seeding – and has also branched out into ground-based robots, cameras, and sensors.
The round’s large close amid Covid-19 further cements Taranis’ reputation as a dogged drone survivor in one of the most scrutinized areas of agtech.
Recent funding for remote-sensing companies like AgroScout could signal a revival for providers of agri-drone technology.
“We’re the largest beer company in the world and the largest user of malting barley, so when you think about where investment into breeding research or the supporting tech comes from, if we’re not going to do it, who will?”
From major equipment manufacturers’ forays into robotics to the emergence of new startups looking to improve farmer awareness of field activity, here’s what to watch for in the year ahead in the US, according to experienced agtech entrepreneur Corbett Kull.
Smoke & mirrors, not worth the extra cost: 50 US farmers speak out on carbon markets