The Robots Are Here – Bonsai Robotics Closes $13.5M Seed Round
The rise of robots in agricultural production represents a promising trend that addresses an array of challenges faced by the farming industry: labor shortages, the need for increased efficiency and sustainability, threats to farm laborer welfare due to severe conditions such as extreme heat, and recalls caused by the contamination of a crop through human contact.
While there are still obstacles to overcome, writes Lynda Kiernan-Stone at Global AgInvesting Media, technological advancements and a growing interest in agricultural automation suggest that robots will continue to play a growing role in the future of farming, and the funding rounds are reflecting this reality.
Bonsai Robotics, provider of the first computer vision-based automation solutions for off-road conditions such as agriculture, announced it has closed on a $13.5 million Seed round led by Acre Venture Partners.
E14, Congruent, Serra Ventures, Fall Line Capital, SNR Ventures, and Andros also participated in the round, along with angel investors including Travis Deyle, the founder of Cobalt Robotics; Lee Redden, the founder of Blue River Tech; and Matt Barnard, the founder of Plenty.
MORE BY GLOBAL AGINVESTING
Acres’ California Farmland Values: A Data-Driven Analysis – Telling the Story Behind the Numbers
Ceres Imaging Launches Portfolio Insights for AI-Enabled Ag Asset Management
Orchard Robotics Gains $3.8M to Build Robots and AI to Power Precision Crop Management
Bonsai is concentrating on environments where traditional GPS, stereovision, time of flight sensors, and LIDAR-based autonomy systems fail. And its first targeted market is orchards, but more specifically, nut orchards – a sector that has been facing severe labor shortages, environmental pressures, and price pressures while dealing with decades-old autosteer technology typically used in row crop production which doesn’t work.
Using patented AI models and computer vision software, Bonsai Robotics’ solutions are integrated with original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment, making it able to integrate with many different machines used in orchards and autonomously travel orchards without human operators.
Read more at Global AgInvesting.
Home
Subscribe Today For
