Q&A: Aerobotics co-founder James Paterson on centering the farm in ‘farm tech’
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 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.
UK startup Hummingbird Technologies tells us it plans to expand into North America with its fresh injection of funds from BASF VC and TELUS Ventures.
Word has been getting around about Aerobotics’ incredible decision support technology for tree crops. Rob Leclerc shares some facts and figures about the startup’s rapid growth to-date.
What is dronemaker XAG working on with Bayer and Huawei? Its co-founder Justin Gong gives us the details, along with his outlook for China.
The St. Louis-based company is on a mission to boost precision farming with a remote monitoring and analytics platform that gives growers, retailers and suppliers better in-field insights.
As still-skeptical farmers demand more value and less labor input from drones, many companies are answering the call through strategic partnerships and acquisitions
Pollination is one of the biggest concerns for specialty crop growers, especially as bee populations continue to decline.
This Thanksgiving, we at AgFunder are thankful for our portfolio companies. Over the last year, we have invested in transformational food system companies, operating across the supply chain, from farm to fork.
Israeli imagery analytics for ag platform Taranis has closed a $20 million Series B round of funding led by Viola Ventures, an Israeli venture firm making its first investment into agtech.