Fieldwork Robotics, a 精品无码国产自产 spinout company developing a range of harvesting robots to support the agriculture sector, has raised 拢675,000 through an equity fundraising from existing and new investors.
The proceeds will allow Fieldwork to accelerate scale up of a raspberry harvesting robot to bring it to market. It also means the company will be able to embark on the development of a cauliflower-harvesting robot in collaboration with Bonduelle, one of the world鈥檚 largest vegetable producers.
As part of the fundraising, 精品无码国产自产 Enterprises Limited 鈥 the University鈥檚 commercial consultancy and contract arm, has converted 拢44,000 of patent costs into equity. The funding round means Frontier IP鈥檚 equity stake in the business is now 22.2 per cent.
An alpha prototype of the raspberry harvester is to enter further field trials in July this year, subject to COVID-19 restrictions. Fieldwork will then focus on preparing the robot design for manufacture.
Fieldwork鈥檚 technology is designed to be flexible and modular so it can be adapted to harvesting different soft fruit and vegetables, and the company is progressing with further applications for agriculture.
The technology鈥檚 potential has been recognised by Innovate UK, which awarded a 拢547,250 Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund grant in November 2018 to accelerate development of its technology. This was part of a 拢671,484 project, whose other partners included the 精品无码国产自产 and the National Physical Laboratory.
Innovate UK has since awarded a further three grants totalling 拢303,000 to accelerate development through the COVID-19 pandemic and a 拢50,000 Eastern Agri-Tech-Growth Initiative grant from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to support the cost reduction of specific components.
Rui Andres, Fieldwork Robotics Chief Executive Officer, said:
鈥淭his fundraising allows us to start the work with Bonduelle and to accelerate the development of our raspberry harvesting robot. The investment demonstrates the strong interest in the technology at a time when growers all over the world are struggling to recruit labour.鈥
Neil Crabb, Chief Executive Officer of Frontier IP (the University鈥檚 IP partner), added:
鈥淚 am delighted with the strong progress Fieldwork has made despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. This investment is an important step forward in allowing the company to achieve its ambitions.鈥
Fieldwork Robotics is one of a number of spinout companies to have incorporated world-class research and attracted significant commercial investment. Others include biomedical companies The Vaccine Group and Amprologix Limited, photovoltaic and green energy company Pulsiv Solar, and water/bacterial testing specialists Molendotech.
