In the heart of Ontario, a young agritech company, Upside Robotics, is on a mission to revolutionize farming, one row at a time. The journey hasn’t been easy. In fact, it’s been downright challenging. Founder Jana Tian’s prototype robot was stored in a San Francisco building that went up in flames, setting the stage for an extraordinary bootstrapping effort to keep the company afloat. With only one prototype instead of the planned two or three, Tian and her team spent the growing season living in an RV, traversing farms in Ontario, testing their small row crop fertilization robots.
Their perseverance paid off. The hands-on experience allowed them to learn and iterate quickly, especially on the hardware side. This gritty determination is a testament to the lengths entrepreneurs will go to support their businesses in the unpredictable world of ag tech. Upside Robotics is now gearing up to scale testing from 70 acres in 2024 to a staggering 1,200 acres. Their goal? To drip nitrogen on crops weekly, reducing the need for nitrogen by 50 to 70 percent, which could significantly cut costs for farmers.
But Upside Robotics isn’t alone in its quest to innovate. At the first in-person event of the Ag Robotics Working Group, held concurrently with the London Farm Show, a panel of agritech pioneers shared their journeys and the barriers they face. Cory Derycke of HarvestCorp Technologies is moving his autonomous asparagus harvester from design to manufacturing, aiming to reduce labour needs and discomfort for workers. Stefan Glibetic of Mycionics has been refining his mushroom harvesting robots for a decade, with pilot projects in Canada and Europe, and plans to enter the market next year. Matt Stevens of Finite Robotics is tackling orchard automation, focusing on pruning, thinning, and harvest tasks that account for half the cost of fruit.
The panelists agreed that while their technologies show promise, the journey to adoption is fraught with challenges. Venture capital for ag tech has dried up, making it difficult for hardware-based companies to secure funding. The seasonal nature of agriculture and the slow pace of research in academic and government partnerships add to the hurdles. However, the panelists see a path forward. They believe that funding to help farmers take more risks on technology and de-risk adoption could be a game-changer. Purchasing technology by farmers would be the best signal of its value, they argued.
Looking beyond the U.S. market, the panelists see opportunities in Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and China. Each company is strategically positioning itself to tap into these markets, leveraging local talent and infrastructure. For instance, Upside Robotics is based in Ontario, benefiting from the significant corn market and the talent pool from universities like Waterloo and Guelph.
The need for speed is evident. These companies are moving quickly, iterating their machines and software at a rapid pace. They appreciate partnerships but note that academic and government research often doesn’t move fast enough to meet their needs. However, they value the ecosystems at universities, which provide a rich talent pool and a collaborative environment.
As these agritech pioneers continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible, their stories serve as a reminder of the resilience and innovation driving the future of farming. The road is rocky, but the potential to increase productivity and sustainability in agriculture makes the journey worthwhile.
