Deere & Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million. Founded in 2017, the Silicon Valley-based startup develops autonomous driving technology compatible with existing machines. The deal accelerates the development and delivery of automation and autonomy on the farm and supports John Deere’s long-term strategy to create smarter machines with advanced technology to support individual customer needs.
Deere first started working with Bear Flag in 2019 as part of the company’s Startup Collaborator program, an initiative focused on enhancing work with startup companies whose technology could add value for Deere customers. Since then, Bear Flag has successfully deployed its autonomous solution on a limited number of farms in the US.
Also Read: The Rise And Rise of Robots
The Bear Flag team consists of agriculture professionals, engineers and technologists focused on autonomy, sensor fusion, vision, data, software and hardware. They will remain in Silicon Valley where they will work closely with Deere to accelerate innovation and autonomy for customers across the world.
Deere & Company is a world leader in providing advanced products, technology and services for customers whose work is revolutionising agriculture and construction — those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure.
Bear Flag Robotics’ mission is to increase global food production while decreasing the cost of growing food through machine automation. The company makes autonomous technology for agricultural tractors, increasing safety, reliability and profitability on farms.
