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 customise their robots for tasks such as spraying, mowing and slashing, while technology partners gain a direct route to market. Bate said some partners have quadrupled sales through the ecosystem.
The company reports its robots have logged more than 220,000 operating hours across two million hectares, saving millions of litres of chemicals and reducing labour requirements. The new funding will boost manufacturing capacity in Toowoomba, expand the workforce, and drive the company’s North American push.
Edaphon described SwarmFarm as a “dark horse in the race for autonomy”, arguing its farmer-first design gives it an edge in reshaping how agricultural productivity is achieved.
Main image credit: Potato News Today
