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Yamaha Motors Leads $7.5m Series A to Advance Agricultural Robotic Technology
Sep. 2, 2019
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
JapanFollow
JapanGlobal Ag Investing (GAI) reports:
Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley (YMVSV) announced it has led a $7.5 million Series A for Advanced Farm Technologies (AFT), a U.S.-based developer of farming robotic technologies, and the first U.S. company to commercialize robotic strawberry harvesting.
Additional investors in the round include Kubota Corporation, Catapult Ventures, and Impact Venture Capital.
The commitment was made through the $100 million Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, and is an example of YMVSV's focus on backing disruptive technologies with the potential to meet the challenges faced by the global food supply chain.
"Finding and supporting technology teams working to solve the challenges inherent in harvesting and delivering fresh food to the dynamic market of today and tomorrow is an area of investment interest for Yamaha Motor," said George Kellerman, CEO and managing director of YMVSV.
Robotics on the Rise
The global market for ag robotics, estimated by industry analysts to be approximately $3 billion, is expected to increase to $12 to 13 billion over the next seven years, said Philippe de Lapérouse and Mark Zavodnyik, HighQuest Consulting, in their recently published article in GAI News, Robotics in the Field - 25 Companies to Watch.
"Confronted with a shrinking and more expensive labor force, production agriculture (including row crops, permanent and specialty crops, and indoor agriculture) is seeking out and adopting the use of robotics to address not only a shortage in qualified labor, but to improve the timeliness and effectiveness of decision-making based on massive amounts of data."
Indeed, this is not the first investment in ag robotics through Yamaha Motors. In 2018, Yamaha Motors Co. Inc. (Japan) invested a total of $10 million in New Zealand-based agricultural robotics and automation startup Robotics Plus, through a $2 million commitment in March, and another $8 million commitment in November.
Some rivals in the field raising capital include:
~ Boston, Massachusetts-based American Robotics which raised $1.1 million through a seed round led by angel investors and including Brain Robotics Capital LLC in May 2017.
~ Silicon Valley-based Bear Flag Robotics that raised $3.5 million in Seed funding in September 2018 through a round led by True Ventures, bringing total funds raised by the company to $4.5 million up to that point.
~ India-based TartanSense, which raised $2 million in March of this year through a Seed round backed by Omnivore Partners, Blume Ventures, and BEENEXT.
~ Augean Robotics that raised $1.5 million through a Seed round led by ffVC, and including S2G Ventures, Radicle Growth, and other unnamed participants, in April of this year.
~ And Agerris, an Australian AI-driven robotics startup, that raised A$6.5 million (US$4.6 million) in Seed funding through a round led by BridgeLane Group, and including Uniseed and Carthona Capital.
For AFT, this latest capital infusion will fund the company's work to expand its lead in robotic strawberry harvesting, and the continuation of its innovation in other areas as well.
"We are excited and humbled to have Yamaha, a leader of global innovation and technology, support our mission of building a diversified farm equipment company centered around automation," said Marc Grossman, CEO of Advanced Farm Technologies.
"We see tremendous potential in Advanced Farm Technologies' robotic harvesting solution as a means of helping to meet the growing global market demand for fresh fruits and vegetables," said Nolan Paul, partner and global agtech lead for YMVSV. "We look forward to working closely with the team to support the expansion of their enterprise."
Source: Global Ag Investing
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