Agricultural Robotics Startup Raises $10M

California-based startup Farm-ng has closed its series A funding round with $10 million to develop its autonomous, modular robots for small- and medium-sized farms.

The round was led by Acre Venture Partners with participation from Xplorer Capital, HawkTower and other institutional and individual investors.

Farm-ng says the funds will go toward improving its customer-facing features and expanding its reach, as well as developing new capabilities for its autonomous robots.

The company’s flagship robot, Amiga, is designed to help human workers with a range of duties on the farm, including seeding and spraying the soil, as well as planting, harvesting and crop care.

By automating these tasks, Farm-ng said Amiga can help farmers tackle ongoing issues with labor shortages and high production demands, as well as take some of the more labor-intensive tasks away from human workers, freeing them up for more complex duties.

Automating the more labor-intensive tasks can also help farms operate more efficiently and sustainably, without jeopardizing output. 

“Farm-ng empowers small- and mid-sized farms with affordable, adaptable robotics and AI solutions so they can adopt more productive, profitable, and sustainable farming practices,” said Ethan Rublee, Farm-ng’s CEO. “This series A funding will enable us to accelerate manufacturing to meet market demand, fund the development of more autonomous farm capabilities, scale our go-to-market and develop an ecosystem of applications that help farms thrive for generations to come.”

Related:Customizable Agricultural Robot Can Tackle Labor Shortages

To date, Farm-ng has deployed more than 100 of its Amiga robots to farmers around the world, with commercial customers including Western Growers. The company has plans to expand its reach across farms globally, starting with ramping up production at its Watsonville manufacturing plant.

“We made a seed investment in Farm-ng because we saw its potential in transforming the farming industry in an immediate way,” said Jonathan McQueen, Xplorer Capital’s co-founder. “We are excited about the company’s momentum and the success it will realize with this series A.”