MetoMotion, a Yokneam, Israel-based intelligent robotic systems for the greenhouse industry, raised $5M in funding.
The round was led by Ridder, a greenhouse technology company, and Navus Ventures, the family investment office of Lely.
The company intends to use the funds to finalize R&D activities, set up production and marketing activities and launch the commercial product.
Led by CEO Adi Nir, MetoMotion provides a smart robotics platform that enables farmers and growers to solve labor shortages, reduce costs and improve yields.
Its GRoW robot brings technology into the greenhouse, making use of latest Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based computing for 3D perception. Specially designed, flexible motion control and path-planning algorithms give the robot precise motion between plants and a unique design that fits the modern greenhouse environment. Dual arms enable harvesting on both sides of the greenhouse row. The platform automatically collects information during harvesting providing valuable insights, such as yield forecasts and yield distribution analyses, for improved crop management. The GRoW robot packs the crops into standard industry boxes for easy integration with existing production procedures. The robot’s capabilities include adapting its robotic technology to other labor-intensive greenhouse tasks such as pruning, pollination, de-leafing and data collection for cultivation analysis.
MetoMotion was established in 2016 as a portfolio company of The Trendlines Group Ltd. (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY) with support from the Israel Innovation Authority and with investment from the Technion DRIVE Accelerator. The company received a €2m grant from the European Commission in 2019.
FinSMEs
29/09/2021