Naïo Technologies designs electric field robots that autonomously weed crops using a combination of computer vision and GPS to detect crop lines and distinguish weeds from valuable plants. The company says its machines can reduce or eliminate chemical pesticide and herbicide use while improving farm profitability. Naïo currently has about 150 robots deployed across Western Europe, Japan and parts of North America. Founded in 2011 and based near Toulouse, France, the company has 70 employees and plans to add up to 60 more over the next three years. It intends to enter the U.S. market later this year and positions its technology as part of a broader ecological and social transition toward more sustainable farming. Financially, Naïo previously raised $3.5 million in 2015 and has now secured new funding to support its international expansion. Naïo Technologies develops autonomous weeding robots for vegetable and vineyard farms, using laser and camera guidance plus plant-recognition to identify weeds. The company currently has 30 robots deployed on small French farms up to 10 hectares and began marketing its robots in 2015. It raised €3 million in seed financing and will use the proceeds to expand into parts of Northern Europe (Denmark, Germany and Sweden) and to fund R&D. Planned product development includes a hoeing robot for open-field vegetable farms over 10 hectares and a vineyard robot able to weed five hectares per day. Naïo plans to double its sales in 2016. The company has won several awards, including the 2015 Mechatronics Award, the Special Jury Award at the French Collaborative Robotics Contest 2015, and the CleanTech Republic Award at COP21.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jan 2020