The US start-up raised an additional $10 million it a Series A round last year, bringing the total funding to $32.8 million.
The Californian company partners with established tractor manufacturers to fit their machines with AI-driven autonomy and remote-control capabilities.
This allows specialty crop growers to automate tasks or operate equipment via an app called TeleFarme.
Speaking with AgTechNavigator at the recent World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco, Bucher explained: “The labour shortages and cost of inputs are continuing to increase so the business model for bringing more technology into agriculture has to be something that is compatible with where growers are at today. They can’t spend a lot of capex.”
The company’s ‘try before you buy’ rental model combined with its cutting-edge technology allowing farmers to remotely monitor and control operations in real time has “leapfrogged” the company, he told us.
As a high-tech serial entrepreneur, Bucher is also well placed to discuss the agtech investment landscape which saw funding in agtech start-ups plummet last year.
“It’s a time for all of us to think strategically about the investor type”, he said. Start-ups need to think harder than ever before about ways to make revenue as early as possible.
For investors, he said, “the opportunity is greater than it’s ever been as long as they understand the [longer] horizons for the returns.”
