Bear Flag Robotics develops autonomous technology that enables farm tractors to run autonomously while human supervisors monitor and command fleets from a remote mission control room or personal device. Its software plans optimal field patterns based on growers’ implements and provides predictive and post-run analytics to improve seasonal farming. The company is working with the largest produce and commodity growers in California and Arizona. Bear Flag Robotics was co-founded by Igino Cafiero and Aubrey Donnellan in 2017 and is based in Newark, Calif. In January 2021 it raised a $7.9M seed extension, bringing total funding to date to $12.5M. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand operations and its business reach. Bear Flag Robotics develops autonomous driving and implement-control technology for agricultural tractors, enabling growers to automate tasks such as spraying, mowing, discing and ripping. Its system allows a single supervisor to operate a fleet of vehicles, reducing labor needs on farms. The company cites research suggesting autonomous robots can lower labor expenses and increase yields by up to 15 percent, partly via reduced soil compaction from smaller tractors. Bear Flag is targeting specialty crops such as nuts, fruits and grapes and aims to deliver yield and cost improvements to growers. The company plans to offer leasing options plus full-service and hybrid (centrally supervised) operational models, with operations slated to begin by the end of 2018. Financially, Bear Flag announced a $3.5M seed round led by True Ventures and has raised $4.5M in total since its 2017 founding; Rohit Sharma of True Ventures joined the board as part of the financing.

Total raised

$11M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jan 2021