Yamaha Motor Company has made a second investment into a world-leading agricultural automation and robotics innovator in New Zealand, bringing its total investment to US$10M. Robotics Plus, a New Zealand agricultural robotics and automation company, announced a US$8M investment from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. (Japan) to support its ambitious growth plans. Source: Timberbiz
According to the New Zealand Herald the ag start up is looking at addressing labour shortages in forestry with robotics. The newspaper also reported that company chairman Steve Saunders says the new funds will be used for Robotics Plus’ UGV (unmanned ground vehicle) and a forestry project still under wraps, as well as pushing its apple-packer, which is already in the market.
The investment brings Yamaha Motor’s total investment in Robotics Plus to $US10M, following a partnership agreement and investment of US$2M announced in March 2018.
“We are very pleased to have continued strengthening our partnership with Yamaha Motor and secured additional investment to support our vision to grow into a truly New Zealand, global business that will transform a number of industries,” said Steve Saunders, co-founder and chairman of Robotics Plus who is currently establishing a US subsidiary for the company.
“This investment will allow us to take the company to the next level and attract and retain the world class talent we need. To stay ahead of the opportunity, we need to scale quickly, not just with our apple packers that are already in market, but also with our new UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) platform technology and other projects under development.”
To accelerate the development of their next generation automation solutions, Robotics Plus will leverage Yamaha Motor’s experience, knowledge and technologies in outdoor vehicles, factory automation, robotics, design for manufacturing and manufacturing.
In May, Robotics Plus’ robotic Āporo apple packers were the first in a suite of technologies to be commercially launched. The apple packer, which identifies and places apples in display trays, can safely handle up to 120 fruit per minute. It is being marketed by Global Pac Technologies, a Jenkins Group (NZ/Australia) and Van Doren Sales (US) joint venture, and is already operating in packhouses in New Zealand and the USA.
