Israel-based Bluewhite says it has secured $39 million in Series C financing. The company, which already works with more than 20 of the leading permanent crop growers in the U.S., will use the funds to further scale its agricultural autonomous tractor and farming solutions and expand into new markets, according to a news release.
Bluewhite is an agricultural robot-as-a-service company enabling data-driven autonomous farming.
The new Series C financing is led by Insight Partners, with participation from new investors Alumni Ventures and LIP Ventures, among others, according to the release, which added that existing investors Entrée Capital, Jesselson, and Peregrine Ventures also participated in the financing round.
The global market for autonomous tractors is due to reach $11.5B by 2030, as growers face increased pressure to produce more with fewer resources amid challenges including labor shortages, rising operational costs, global population growth, and environmental changes, according to the release. While autonomous farming solutions can alleviate these issues, successful implementation and scale have largely remained problematic and elusive, the company said.
Bluewhite said its autonomous farming solution is breaking down these barriers by equipping growers’ existing fleets with unique proprietary autonomous technology and a user-friendly experience to provide growers with data-driven insights to help better manage their farms, thus increasing yields and profitability.
“Having already proven the commercial success of our solution with growers, this new round of funding will enable us to continue providing sustainable autonomous innovation to more markets and work with different types of partners across the ecosystem to impact every level of the food supply chain,” Ben Alfi, co-founder and CEO of Bluewhite, said in the release. “This next phase of our growth will help provide unprecedented transparency throughout the food supply chain and ensure healthier, safer, and more sustainable food production and consumption. We are thrilled to have forward-thinking investors and amazing customers who share our vision to make sustainable, autonomous farming a reality worldwide.”
Bluewhite combines hardware and software into a single solution, allowing for completely remote fleet and data management, according to the release. The company said its Pathfinder product is retrofitted onto any tractor and leverages computer vision, artificial intelligence, and smart implements integration to navigate and execute multiple tasks autonomously, from crop seeding and spraying to mowing and harvesting, even in challenging conditions.
Compass, the software-as-a-service component of Bluewhite’s solution, collects data from the field, analyzes it using advanced AI algorithms, and provides real-time dashboards, reports and insights, ensuring maximum efficiency across farm operations on any device, the release said.
“Particularly in these challenging times, we’ve been excited to see Bluewhite defy the odds and successfully deploy its solution while also raising this next round of funding so it can continue to scale,” Daniel Aronovitz, principal at Insight Partners and a Bluewhite board member, said in the release. “The combination of Bluewhite’s unique autonomous technology and incredible team have led the company to rise above the pack, and we’re thrilled to be working with them as they move into this next critical phase.”
Bluewhite said its autonomous solution can be applied across all permanent crop types, including nuts, berries, apples, grapes, hops, stone fruit and more. The company’s solution has already helped execute more than 50,000 hours of autonomous farming activity across 150,000 acres of crops in California and Washington, according to the release.
