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2024-01-19

farm-ng raises Series A funding to scale Amiga robot and AI for small to midsize farms

Agtech startup farm-ng has closed over $10 million in Series A funding to advance its modular Amiga robot for labor-intensive farming tasks. The capital injection promises to spur manufacturing, new capabilities, and commercial expansion.

Based in Watsonville, CA, farm-ng aims to make agricultural robotics affordable and adaptable for small to midsize farms seeking productivity and profitability gains. Its mobile Amiga platform leverages AI to automate hazardous manual work plagued by persistent labor shortages.

"Growers face huge labor challenges, with $90 billion spent annually on repetitive farm work in the U.S. alone," said farm-ng, noting immigration declines and rising wages compound the problem. Climate change pressuring margins and lack of precise data for decisions also impede farmers.

Designed for various environments and crops, Amiga can handle jobs like seeding, spraying, data collection, and analysis. Over 100 units have already deployed in under 18 months accruing quick ROI.

The startup positions Amiga as delivering three critical benefits - resilient operations less vulnerable to external shocks, sustainable practices supporting food security, and evolving functionality ensuring long-term robotics value.

"This investment reflects confidence in farm-ng’s vision and transformative potential for sustainable agriculture," stated farm-ng.

Acre Venture Partners led the oversubscribed round, with support from Xplorer Capital, HawkTower and others. Farm-ng has won industry acclaim, including the 2023 Small Farm Innovation Challenge.

"Farm-ng has sold more agtech robots faster than nearly any startup, showcasing exceptional execution," said Acre's Lucas Mann. "Their strategy of collaborating across the value chain has put robots on farms incredibly quickly."

Farm-ng CEO Ethan Rublee thanked investors for accelerating their mission of enabling resilient, sustainable food production.

"This funding will catalyze manufacturing, autonomous capabilities, go-to-market scale, and an applications ecosystem to help farms thrive for generations," Rublee said.

Citing pressing needs for agricultural modernization, research firm MarketsandMarkets sees a $27 billion global robotics market by 2029, with 13% yearly growth. Expert Market Research predicts even faster expansion exceeding 16% annually.

"We invested seed funding in farm-ng because of its immediate potential to transform agriculture," said Xplorer's Jonathan McQueen. "We are excited by their momentum."

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