Yara Growth Ventures invests in Ecorobotix – a leader in high-precision application of crop inputs

Oslo and Yverdon-les-Bains, 9 May 2023: Yara Growth Ventures invests in Ecorobotix, who develops smart, innovative, and sustainable solutions for agriculture. Their ARA smart spraying system allows for a reduction of chemical crop inputs like herbicides by 70-95%. Such drastic savings significantly benefit growers by reducing input costs, whilst improving the environmental footprint of modern farming. The Switzerland based scale-up company was founded in 2011 by Aurelien Demaurex and Steve Tanner.

“We are observing a lot of innovation in smart agricultural machinery, but Ecorobotix truly stands out.” says Björn Heinz of the Yara Growth Ventures team and further adds “It is not only their ARA system’s amazing capabilities that take precision farming to a new level. We are also truly impressed by the team’s capabilities and their operational excellence to deliver impressive growth in the market.”

“We are proud to be working with investors who clearly see the environmental benefits of our ultra-high precision technology,” said Ecorobotix CEO Simon Aspinall. “With these new investments we will deliver ARA to more farmers, in more markets, increasing agricultural productivity while protecting the environment and reducing CO2 impact.”

The current USD 52 million (CHF 46 million) funding round is jointly led by AQTON Private Equity GmbH and Cibus Capital LLP with additional contributions from both existing and new investors including Yara Growth Ventures. The investment will accelerate Ecorobotix’s geographic expansion and enable new product development.

About Ecorobotix
Ecorobotix is a Swiss company, Certified B Corporation, founded to radically change agriculture for the better to respect the environment by reducing chemical/energy use and impact on soil. Ecorobotix developed ARA, a revolutionary plant-by-plant data solution and ultra-high precision crop treatment that reduces the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth treatments and liquid fertilizers by 70-95%, while increasing crop yields by 5% or more and significantly decreasing CO2 emissions. Using AI technology and its unique ultra-high precision spraying system, ARA can recognize individual plants, classify them in real-time, and spray the weeds with an unprecedented precision of 6x6cm without affecting the surrounding crops or soil.

About Yara Growth Ventures
Yara Growth Ventures is the venture investment team within Yara International ASA investing in disruptive startups in the agri-food industry globally to advance sustainability. Learn more at www.yaragrowthventures.com

About Yara
Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Supporting our vision of a world without hunger and a planet respected, we pursue a strategy of sustainable value growth, promoting climate-friendly crop nutrition and zero-emission energy solutions. Yara’s ambition is focused on growing a nature positive food future that creates value for our customers, shareholders, and society at large and delivers a more sustainable food value chain. 

To achieve our ambition, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production. Through our focus on clean ammonia production, we aim to enable the hydrogen economy, driving a green transition of shipping, fertilizer production and other energy intensive industries. 

Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has established a unique position as the industry’s only global crop nutrition company. We operate an integrated business model with around 17,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries, with a proven track record of strong returns. In 2022, Yara reported revenues of USD 24.1 billion. www.yara.com