The first SwarmBot was  sold in 2016, and the units are now playing a key role on some farms by performing functions including controlling weeds in fallow. Photo: SwarmFarm Robotics

SWARMFARM Robotics has raised $30 million in a Series B round to follow its Series A round of $12M announced in February 2023.

Leading the latest round is Belgium-based company Edaphon, whose investments include agtech and biological-input companies in Europe, Israel, and India.

Joining Edaphon as a new investor in this round are the Queensland Government’s QIC and the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation through $7M from the Powering Australia Technology Fund.

Also contributing are existing investors Melbourne-based Tenacious Ventures, the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s GrainInnovate as managed by Artesian Venture Partners, and Canada’s Emmertech, the lead investor in the Series A round.

“The $30M raise will accelerate SwarmFarm’s growth in North America, expand its team, and fuel further development of its partner ecosystem,” SwarmFarm chief executive officer and Andrew Bate said.

Mr Bate and his wife Jocie founded SwarmFarm on their farm at Gindie near Emerald in Central Queensland, and manufacturing recently moved to Wellcamp near Toowoomba in south-east Qld.

SwarmFarm founders Andrew and Jocie Bate

SwarmBots, autonomous units used mainly to control weeds in fallow, are SwarmFarm’s cornerstone product, and offer a pathway into what Mr Bate calls Integrated Autonomy.

“The future of agriculture isn’t bigger machines or bolt-on driverless kits, it’s Integrated Autonomy, technology designed from the ground up to work with farmers, not around them.

“With this raise, we’re not just building more robots; we’re building a new farming system that helps farmers do more with less, while preserving the productivity of their land for future generations.”

Rather than tying growers or contractors to OEMs, Mr Bate said SwarmBots were versatile platforms that can integrate a range of attachments like sprayers and mowers made by different partners, enabling operators to adapt technology to suit their needs.

“SwarmFarm’s innovation offers a commercially viable, scalable solution, and that’s exactly what the Powering Australia Technology Fund was built to support,” CEFC head of growth capital Malcolm Thornton said.

“We’re supporting a company with a strong track record that’s now poised for its next stage of growth.”

“SwarmFarm’s technology represents an important step forward that gives farmers new tools and practices to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

“The robots have proved successful in reducing herbicide costs and equipment outlay, while reducing overall emissions associated with traditional farming practice.”

SwarmBots are used in horticulture as well as broadacre cropping, and 200 have been deployed around Australia.

Source: SwarmFarm, CEFC