Philly-Based Robotics Company Burro is Joining John Deere’s Agtech Accelerator

When Burro changed its name last year from Augean Robotics, CEO Charlie Andersen said the rebrand fell more in line with iconic agricultural brands that use an animal for their names like Deere and Bobcat.

A few months after that name change and a $11 million Series A, Burro will actually be participating in an accelerator with one of those huge brand names.

Starting this week, the NextFab-based company is one of seven in John Deere’s 2022 Startup Collaborator program. It’s the third year of the program, and Andersen said Burro was sought out by the corporation this past fall.

The five-year-old Philly company makes an autonomous, collaborative robot called Burro, which assists with farming as field labor workforces have shrunk in recent years. In 2021, it had about 100 robots in the fields, and Andersen anticipates about three times as many deployed this year. Deere’s yearlong program enables startups to test innovative technologies with customers and dealers without a more formal business relationship.

“We have always admired Deere, and they’re trying to figure out how autonomy works in the space,” Andersen said. “If you’re a large manufacturer of people-driven equipment, it’s logical that you would have an interest in companies like ours.”

Read the full article here.

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