Norwegian agri-tech company Saga Robotics has raised £8.5 million to accelerate their growth within the strawberry sector in the UK. The move will also accelerate further growth internationally, expanding on their current roster of US, Italy and Norway.
Since 2014, the company has been working on autonomous agricultural robot Thorvald, which enables smarter farming by performing several integrated pest management operations simultaneously. The robot supports strawberry growers by handling high-frequency and time-consuming work, delivering increased yields, lower CO2 emissions and more sustainable food/strawberry production.
Through private placement, a new shareholder, Norwegian industrial investment company Aker, has invested £4.3 million in return for a share of 13.5% in the company. Aker now joins existing shareholders, Nysnø Climate Investment, Rabo Food and Ag Innovation Fund and Hatteland, who invested a further total of £3.4 million, and together now own 31.2% of Saga Robotics. Other stakeholders include Cibus Enterprise Fund, advised from London.
Source: aafarmer.co.uk