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Agtonomy launches out of stealth to address farm labor crisis with $4 million

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Agtonomy, a hybrid autonomy and tele-assist service platform, has launched out of stealth and has announced a $4 million seed round from Grit Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Village Global, the venture firm backed by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Dell.

The Agtonomy mission is to address the massive labor crisis gripping local farm and land maintenance operations. The executive team consists of veterans from the AI, EV, cloud service and agriculture industries, with extensive experience at tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Dell, Uber and Cruise, as well as lifelong farming experience at Northern California agriculture operations such as Trattore Farms.

By 2050, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that we will need to produce 60 percent more food on a smaller amount of land just to feed a growing global population of 9.3 billion. [Read more…] about Agtonomy launches out of stealth to address farm labor crisis with $4 million

Festo and MassRobotics select companies for healthcare robotics startup program

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Festo and MassRobotics have selected companies for the inaugural Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Program.

The Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst is a new program for the global robotics startup community to advance healthcare developments by providing promising companies with investor and customer introductions, access to subject-matter experts, and a range of technical and marketing support resources.

The robotics companies selected include Assistive Technology, an American startup dedicated to at-home physical therapy solutions that are operable at a low cost and always accessible to rural patients and those who need closer monitoring for recovery. [Read more…] about Festo and MassRobotics select companies for healthcare robotics startup program

Xwing and Textron Aviation to develop autonomous flight

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Xwing, a startup developing autonomy for aviation, has signed a joint development agreement with Textron Aviation.

Under this non-exclusive agreement, Xwing and Textron Aviation, home to the iconic Cessna and Beechcraft brands, can begin to work together to accelerate the seamless integration of autoflight technologies into existing and future aircraft, beginning with the Cessna Grand Caravan.

On the heels of its recent $40 million funding round, $400 million valuation, and completion of the world’s first autonomous gate-to-gate flight of a commercial cargo aircraft, Xwing enters the agreement as a leader in autonomous flight technology. [Read more…] about Xwing and Textron Aviation to develop autonomous flight

Activ Surgical secures $45 million in Series B funding led by Cota Capital

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Activ Surgical, a digital surgery pioneer, has raised $45 million in a Series B financing round. The Series B round was led by Cota Capital, a multi-stage investment firm focused on private and public modern enterprise technology companies.

Seven new investors, including BAM Funds, Magnetar Capital, Mint Ventures, Castor Ventures, Dream One Vision and Nvidia, join existing investors DNS Capital,Tao Capital Partners, LRVHealth, Rising Tide VC, GreatPoint Ventures and ARTIS Ventures to close out the Series B round of financing.

To date, Activ Surgical has raised a total of $77 million. [Read more…] about Activ Surgical secures $45 million in Series B funding led by Cota Capital

Pizza-vending brand Basil Street partners with Arcus Servo Motion

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Pizza-vending brand Basil Street has agreed a partnership with leading motion control company, Arcus Servo Motion.

The startup says the partnership is in response to expanded client demand for automated food systems and is aligned with its nationwide rollout slated for Fall 2021.

The global supplier of advanced motion control and technical solutions, including AI learning capabilities, will support the brand’s mass-market introduction and distribution of Basil Street’s innovative automated brick-oven style pizza kitchens (APKs) to locations across the country. [Read more…] about Pizza-vending brand Basil Street partners with Arcus Servo Motion

Peachtree Corners partners with T-Mobile to launch Beep autonomous shuttle fleet

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Peachtree Corners – a tiny city in Georgia, US – is partnering with T- Mobile to launch a fleet of Beep autonomous shuttles, as well as cellular vehicle-to-everything, or C-V2X.

The advanced autonomous service has been named “PAUL” – short for Piloting Autonomous Use Locally. Peachtree Corners has dubbed an area of the city “Silicon Orchard”.

Peachtree Corners says PAUL delivers “unprecedented safety” through Beep Command Center (BCC) capabilities with continuous human monitoring. [Read more…] about Peachtree Corners partners with T-Mobile to launch Beep autonomous shuttle fleet

How are businesses utilizing blockchain technology in their practices?

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Modernization is the need of the hour as the global community continues to reach new heights of innovation and digitization in almost every sector and industry.

As much as this sounds exciting, it puts a lot of responsibility on businesses and organizations to introduce new trends in their normal routines.

However, it gives them a lot of room for improvement, and helps them to be more efficient. One such opportunity was brought upon by the advent of modern blockchain technology. [Read more…] about How are businesses utilizing blockchain technology in their practices?

Future Acres to partner with Sun World International and expand advisory board

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Future Acres, an agricultural robotics startup, has agreed a partnership with global plant variety breeder and genetics licensor Sun World International to further develop its proprietary technology.

Future Acres’ stated mission is to bring “sustainable agricultural robotics to the farm industry in order to optimize workforce efficiency and safety”.

The collaboration begins with an initial testing and pilot program at Sun World’s International Center for Innovation and will include collaborative commercialization of Future Acres with Sun World’s 2,000 growers farming on 55,000 acres around the world, who could socialize the equipment and technology. [Read more…] about Future Acres to partner with Sun World International and expand advisory board

Realtime Robotics opens Japan office

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Realtime Robotics, a developer of autonomous motion planning systems for industrial robots, has opened a new office in Japan to meet the growing demand it has experienced in the region. The new office, located in Tokyo, in the Shinagawa area, will be publicly opening on October 1.

Manufacturing, logistics and automotive companies throughout the region have been looking to accelerate their adoption of industrial robotics to enhance productivity and answer labor shortages. Many have turned to Realtime Robotics to help them remove engineering complexity, reduce cycle time, lower expenses and establish greater operational efficiency.

With the opening of the new office’s lab and demonstration space, these companies will be able to directly collaborate with Realtime Robotics’ team and better understand how the company’s technology works. [Read more…] about Realtime Robotics opens Japan office

Innodisk unveils first industrial-grade PCIe 4.0 SSDs turbocharging 5G and AIoT

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Innodisk has unveiled what it says is “the first industrial-grade PCIe 4.0 SSDs turbocharging 5G and AIoT”.

5G and AIoT need more speed and more capacity, and PCIe 4.0 delivers, doubling the speed of PCIe 3.0 and providing the much-needed performance boost to keep pace with innovation and industry trends.

Not only speed and capacity, but tolerance of wide-range temperature is also crucial. Consumer-grade products aren’t tough enough to withstand the high temperatures of outdoor and industrial settings, so Innodisk is introducing the first industrial-grade PCIe 4.0 SSDs built to handle those challenging conditions. [Read more…] about Innodisk unveils first industrial-grade PCIe 4.0 SSDs turbocharging 5G and AIoT