The farm robotics sector has shown some resilience in 2024 and continues to bring innovative products to market, despite the challenging year for fundraising.
In the first half of 2024, the AgFunder-defined Farm Robotics, Mechanization, and Equipment category has raised nearly $399 million, a 21.1 % decline from $505.5 million in H1 2023. [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company is AgFunder.]
However, this drop needs to be considered in the context of a general investment contraction that has characterized the last 18 months. Overall agrifoodtech investment was also down in H1 2024: 12.5% compared to H1 2023. The drop in funding to the robotics sector is more or less in line with general trends.
On the upside, growers are showing an increasing propensity to invest in automation due to rising labor costs and workforce shortages. For instance, roughly 70% of growers surveyed last year by US-based Western Growers Association declared to have invested in automation in 2022, with an average annual spend on automation of $450,000–$500,000, an approximate 25% increase from the previous year.
The main activities that robotics companies are currently taking on include weeding — the most popular — followed by planting and thinning. Startups like Stout, Carbon Robotics, Verdant Robotics, Farmwise, and Aigen have already secured a considerable customer base and are planning their expansion in the market. [Disclosure: AFN’s parent company, AgFunder, is an investor in Verdant and Aigen.]
While this focused range of tasks speaks of an industry still defining its early implementations, the speed of advancement in the use of sensors, machine learning, and AI vision will no doubt significantly increase the number of tasks that can realistically be performed by robots in the near future.
The following list presents some of the largest farm robotics deals in 2024 so far. These companies have already shown market traction, gained credibility for their technology, and are now working on expanding their reach.
The 7 biggest farm robotics deals of 2024 so far
🇺🇸 Monarch Tractor, United States
On July 22 secured a $133 million Series C round to support the expansion of its all-electric autonomous tractors. The fundraising was co-led by Astanor and the HH-CTBC Partnership, with the participation of At One Ventures, PMV, and the Welvaartsfonds.
Monarch produces driver-optional, data-driven, and 100% electric tractors. Its main product is the MK-V, a tractor that can be remotely controlled via the proprietary WingspanAI platform, which offers features like automated operations planning, remote fleet management, tractor performance reports, and maintenance diagnostics.
🇺🇸 Carbon Robotics, United States
The laser-weeding company raised an undisclosed amount in May from NVentures, the venture capital arm of Nvidia, the manufacturer of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) that has been leading the AI revolution thanks to its advanced tech. The investment brought Carbon Robotics’ total funding to date to $85 million.
Carbon Robotics produces AI-powered robotic systems that precisely identify, weed and thin crops using carbon lasers while collecting information on the soil for later analysis.
This technology reduces the use of herbicides and eliminates unnecessary tilling, significantly cutting labor costs and the use of pesticides. Its flagship product is the self-driving “autonomous LaserWeeder,” to which the company has recently added a tractor-pulled version. This technology has the potential to revolutionize weed management in agriculture, offering a more sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional methods.
🇮🇱 Bluewhite, Israel
The tractor automation company raised $39 million on January 23 with a Series C round backed by Insight Venture Partners, Peregrine Ventures, Entree Capital, LIP Ventures Boutique, and Jesselson Capital. It also recently partnered with crop equipment leader CNH to bring autonomous tech to orchards.
Blue White Robotics sells autonomous systems that can be installed on tractors, combining hardware and software into a single end-to-end platform for fleet and data management. The platform allows farmers to remotely run operations like spray, disc, and mow with the same tractor. They also provide a complete infrastructure for autonomy and in-field data for improving productivity, farm economics and safety. Founder Ben Alfi claims his installation technicians can make a tractor autonomous in 14 hours.
🇺🇸 Burro, United States
The company producing “robotic donkeys” raised $24 million on January 9 with a Series B-round deal led by S2G Ventures, Catalyst Investors, F-Prime Capital Partners, Cibus Fund, Translink Capital and Toyota AI Ventures.
Burro is a developer of self-driving interactive carts to be used on farms and other outdoor environments. The Burro cart, available in three formats, follows people and can autonomously run cargo around, relieving people of strenuous tasks, so that they can focus on more valuable work.
🇮🇱 Greeneye Technology, Israel
The robotics pest control company raised $20 million on April 17. The Series B round was led by Israeli investment company Deep Insight, with participation from existing investors Syngenta Group Ventures, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Orbia Ventures, Iron Nation fund, Amol Deshpande, and Mellanox (now part of Nvidia) founder Eyal Waldman.
Greeneye utilizes Artificial Intelligence to disrupt the agricultural pest control process, transitioning from the current practice of broadcast and wasteful spraying to precise and selective spraying of herbicides. Its multidisciplinary team with expertise in computer vision, artificial intelligence, agronomy, and mechanical engineering developed a proprietary system that can turn every sprayer into a smart machine with seamless integration.
🇺🇸 Terra Clear, United States
On April 1st, the soil-clearing startup raised $15.3 million in a Series A deal led by Madrona Venture Group.
The company integrates smart sensing, machine learning, and advanced robotics into an automated rock-picking and soil-mapping solution that can be purchased or accessed as a service.
🇬🇧 Dendra Systems, United Kingdom/Australia
The reforestation and ecosystem restoration company secured a $15.7 million B round deal on May 8, 2024, funded by Airbus Ventures, Zouk Capital, Helium-3 Ventures, Aramco Ventures, and Understorey Ventures.
Composed of a global team of scientists, ecologists, and engineers, Dendra set out to tackle the challenge of enabling scalable restoration for complex and biodiverse ecosystems. They deploy a combination of machine learning tech, data analytics, and drones-based automation used for mapping and seeding, among other things.
Recent 2024 farm robotics seed-stage deals:
While the sector is gradually becoming more established, let’s take a look at some recent entrants and the innovative ideas they are working on. In the list below we picked 5 of the most relevant seed deals for 2024, showcasing new approaches inside the farm robotics world.
🇺🇸 Neatleaf, United States
The sustainable agriculture automation company raised $4 million on January 23 with a seed deal led by AgFunder, the parent company of AgFunder News.
The startup’s main product is the Spyder, a wire-suspended monitoring robot containing several sensors and capable of gathering a comprehensive understanding of the cultivation environment to grow indoor crops more efficiently and in a more sustainable way. Our AgTech Editor Jennifer Marston recently interviewed Neatleaf’s founder Elmar Mair to discuss the critical role of autonomy in agriculture. [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Neatleaf.]
🇺🇸 Grain Weevil Corporation, United States
The startup raised $3.5 million on May 1, in a seed round led by Homegrown Capital.
Grain Weevil is a robot with a mission to solve a very specific problem. The machine can crawl inside grain bins to break up crusts and bridges and help feed grains into the auger for extraction, a job normally done by humans in challenging and dangerous conditions. The company serves farmers, businesses, and organizations and its bots are available for purchase or as a service.
🇮🇳 AutoNxt Automation, India
The company raised $3,003,921 on April 4 in a seed deal backed by Keiretsu Forum, Saama Capital, Soonicorn Ventures, Bluehill Capital, Suveer Sinha, and Amit Singhal.
AutoNxt is an automation technology startup that is currently working to bring India’s first electric, self-driving tractor to market. By introducing a new leasing and distribution model, it hopes to revolutionize and redefine the agricultural tractor industry.
🇹🇷 Orbiba Robotics, Turkey
The organization raised $220,000 on January 26 in a seed deal backed by Halkbank.
Orbiba Robotics aims to produce affordable AI-powered data-driven bot platforms to support organic agriculture practitioners, by designing and developing robots with minimal carbon footprint, using renewable energy, low cost, and high return on investment.
They have so far received a mix of funds, including some crowdfunding and a grant from the European Union.
🇬🇭 Sayetech, Ghana
The African smart machinery startup raised $100,000 on May 14 in a seed round by AgFunder.
SAYeTECH designs and builds smart agricultural machinery suited for African conditions.
It is one of the 8 startups chosen by the AgFunder GROW Impact Accelerator for its fifth cohort in May 2024. The company plans to provide its smart machinery both as a product and service, while also providing training and computer-aided design services.
