Australian agtech innovator SwarmFarm Robotics has raised AUD$30 million in new funding to accelerate growth of its autonomous farm robot fleet and expand commercial operations across North America.

Founded in 2015 in Gindie, Queensland’s Central Highlands, SwarmFarm is pioneering a new model of “integrated autonomy” – a ground-up system of lightweight, fully autonomous robots designed to help farmers boost productivity while reducing inputs and soil damage.

“The future of agriculture isn’t bigger machines or bolt-on driverless kits,” said Andrew Bate, SwarmFarm co-founder and CEO. “It’s integrated autonomy — technology built for farmers to help them do more with less, while protecting the long-term productivity of their land.”

SwarmFarm’s approach challenges a century of agricultural machinery design. Instead of measuring progress in “horsepower and steel,” the company says its system uses smaller, autonomous machines to untether productivity from machine size, cutting down soil compaction, fuel use, and costs.

SwarmFarm’s SwarmConnect ecosystem enables third-party agtech developers and short-line machinery manufacturers to build and deploy applications that integrate directly into the SwarmFarm platform. The company says this open model gives farmers flexibility to innovate and customize their operations, features that have proven particularly attractive to broadacre grain and specialty crop growers across Australia and the U.S.

SwarmFarm’s fleet has already accumulated more than 220,000 robot operating hours across two million hectares of commercial farmland. The company estimates its technology has saved 5.2 million tonnes of chemicals, while reducing emissions and overall input costs.

The new funding will expand SwarmFarm’s R&D, increase production capacity, and accelerate partnerships with U.S. agribusinesses and technology providers.

The round was led by Belgian “evergreen” impact investor Edaphon, with new participation from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and QIC, alongside existing backers Tenacious Ventures, Emmertech, Tribe Global Ventures, Access Capital, and GrainInnovate (the Grains Research and Development Corporation’s venture capital fund managed by Artesian).

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