Brief: Chinese dronemaker XAG raises $46m

• XAG, a Chinese manufacturer of agricultural drones and robots, has secured the equivalent of $46 million funding in what it calls a “Series C-plus-plus” round. The funding came from GL Ventures, a VC fund under Chinese asset manager Hillhouse Capital Group.
• In a statement, XAG founder and CEO Peng Bin said the Guangzhou-based startup will use the funding to boost its investment in R&D and further develop its robotics products. “This will help develop China’s rural areas, building an unmanned agro-ecosystem that ensures food security globally,” he added.
• This latest injection follows XAG’s “Series C-plus” round late last year, which saw investors including Baidu and SoftBank pour ¥1.2 billion ($182 million) into the dronemaker.

Why it matters:

Founded in 2007, XAG offers a range of drones designed for crop protection, fertilizer spraying, remote sensing, and seeding that can be controlled from a smartphone. More recently it has diversified into other ‘unmanned’ farm tech, including ground-based ag robots, surveillance cameras, and weather sensors.

The startup claims it operates across more than 100 million acres of farmland in 42 countries worldwide, with close to 5 million smallholder farmers using its products and services.

XAG reported revenue growth of 253% for 2020, despite disruption to farming caused by Covid-19.