SwarmFarm Robotics raises $30 million to scale farm-bot fleet and expand into North America
Australian agtech company SwarmFarm Robotics has secured $30 million in Series B funding to accelerate the rollout of its autonomous “SwarmBots” and expand operations into North America, according to Business News Australia . The round was led by European investor Edaphon, with participation from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), QIC and Artesian Capital. The CEFC contributed $7 million through its Powering Australia Technology Fund. Founded by farmers Andrew and Jocie Bate, SwarmFarm develops lightweight, self-driving robots designed to reduce machinery costs and environmental impacts. Rather than competing in the race for ever-larger tractors and harvesters, the company builds small, simple autonomous machines that can operate together in fleets. SwarmFarm’s open platform, SwarmConnect, functions as an “app store for agriculture”, according to SmartCompany.com, allowing partners to develop and deploy crop-specific applications. Farmers can customis...