Harvest Automation

Harvest Automation, Inc. was founded in 2009 by former iRobot employees. Roomba inventors Joseph Jones and Paul Sandin, and Roomba engineer Clara Vu,[1][2] founded the company along with Chief Operating Officer Charles Grinnell, who served as Lead Engineer of a $300 million particle detector at CERN – Europe's international physics research center.[3]

Funding

Since the formation of Harvest Automation, Inc., the company has received funding from various investors totaling at $30.6 million.

In 2010, Harvest Automation received a total of $5.3 million. Life Sciences Partners and Cultivian Ventures invested $4 million Since the formation of Harvest Automation, Inc., the company has received funding from various investors totaling at $30.6 million.[4]

In 2011, Harvest Automation received a further combined $10.3 million from debt financing, Life Sciences Partners, Cultivian Ventures, Entrée Capital and Founder Collective. The total funding was constituted of $2.5 million secured through debt financing on July 29,[1] 2011, and $7.8 million received collectively on November 18, 2011 from Life Sciences Partners, Cultivian Ventures, Founder Capital and Entrée Capital.

2013 saw an investment of $15 million, with $3.2 million from debt financing on February 28, 2013, and a total of $11.8 million collectively from Life Sciences Partners, Cultivian Ventures, Entree Capital, Founder Collective, Mousse Partners and MassVentures.[5][6]

Products

Harvest Automation’s product is a robot, known as HV-100, which is reported to be highly efficient in environments such as greenhouses, hoop houses and nurseries. HV-100 units are capable of operating in both indoor and outdoor environments. The robots are intended to reduce production costs as well as increasing overall productivity.[7]

Awards and Recognition

On July 16, 2014 at the 17th annual Mass Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC) Technology Leadership Awards, Harvest Automation was shortlisted as a finalist in the Innovative Technology of the Year – Robotics category for HV-100.

Harvest Automation, Inc. and the other finalists were judged by numerous panels of executives, analysts and investors[8]

Harvest Automation, Inc. is a robotics startup founded by several former iRobot employees. Their first robot[2] is targeted at the floriculture industry and is designed to move potted plants on nursery container farms, an application currently done by hand. The plants are first planted in containers (pots) that are then evenly spaced on large fields. As the plants grow they are spaced further apart to give each plant more room to spread out. Later, as the plants are sold, leaving holes in the spaced pattern, they are consolidated into a tighter area.

The mobile robots that do this task are completely autonomous and able to figure out where the plants are and where they should be moved to. They carry one plant at a time, less than the 2 or 4 that humans carry, but the robots don't need to take breaks. The robots are also designed to be safe around humans, which allows a human laborer to be on the field with the robots to help them do their job.

In January 2010, the company received 4 million USD Series A financing,[9] in November 2011 the company received 7.8 million USD Series B financing.,[10] and in October 2013 the company received 11.75 million USD Series C financing.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lang, Michelle (July 29, 2011). "Harvest Automation receives $2.5M financing". Boston Business Journal.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Roomba co-Inventors Shift Focus to Cleaning Up Commercial Growing".
  3. ↑ "Harvest Automation - Management Team".
  4. ↑ Lynch, Brendan (January 8, 2010). "Robotics startup Harvest Automation pulls in $4M tranche". Boston Business Journal.
  5. ↑ "Harvest Automation | CrinchBase".
  6. ↑ Castellanos, Sara (October 29, 2013). "Harvest Automation closes $11.8M in Series C funding". Boston Business Journal.
  7. ↑ "Case Study: Harvest Automation". Robotics Tomorrow. July 31, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Harvest Automation, Inc, Named a Leadership Award Finalist for 17th Annual Innovative Technology of the Year – Robotics". July 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Harvest Automation, Inc. Receives $4.0M Series A Financing".
  10. ↑ "Harvest Automation Receives $7.8M Series B Financing".
  11. ↑ "Harvest Automation receives $11.75M Series C financing".

External links

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