Tertill, the developer of a solar-powered weeding robot for home gardens, has merged with Harvest Automation, an agrobotics-focused company best known for its plant-moving HV100 robots. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Harvest Automation is the name of the new company and there are currently a dozen employees. The company will continue to develop the HV100 and Tertill weeding robots, but there’s a new additional focus to develop a low-cost “farm tough” robot that Harvest isn’t ready to talk about publicly. Harvest conducted limited field trials of this new robot in 2022 and is starting more expansive trials in the next couple of months.
“Together, we will bring to market an innovative solution for the specialty crop sector that will address labor shortages and increase farmers’ top line,” said Charles Grinnell, co-founder and CEO of Harvest Automation. “Longer term, this merged company will be a major player in the automation of food production.”
Tertill co-founder and chief product officer Rory MacKean is now the COO of Harvest Automation. “We are excited to join forces with Harvest Automation and to bring our expertise in outdoor automation to this new venture,” he said. “Our companies share a common goal of developing cutting-edge technology that improves labor productivity in the agriculture industry.”
Helen Greiner, who was named CEO and Chairman of Tertill in September 2020, will remain a board member and special advisor. Greiner co-founded iRobot in 1990, alongside Colin Angle and Rodney Brooks, and founded drone company CyPhy Works in 2008. She also recently served as an advisor to the U.S. Army.
Getting the band back together
One of the main reasons this deal came together is how familiar both companies are with one another. Joe Jones, co-founder of Tertill and inventor of the Roomba, co-founded Harvest Automation in 2007 and was CTO until he left to start Tertill in June 2015. He’s been an advisor at Harvest since he left. MacKean spent nearly five years as a software engineer at Harvest Automation before also leaving in June 2015.
At the time, Harvest Automation was also in the warehouse robotics business. But the space was getting crowded and both its robotic system for order fulfillment and the plant-moving robots “were on the ropes.” So it sold its robotic warehouse automation technology and business, which later became NextShift Robotics, in April 2016 and had to reduce its headcount.
However, Tertill and Harvest Automation have been co-located at the same office building in North Billerica, Mass. since the former was founded. “It was cost-effective for both companies,” Greiner said.
“We’re very excited about the merger,” Grinnell added. “Tertill brings great experience with their team and a great investor list who are going to be on the board of the new Harvest Automation.”
A growing portfolio
So Harvest Automation will now have the HV-100 plant-moving robots, the Tertill home weeding robot and the robot being developed in stealth. Before the merger, Tertill had been exploring the idea of developing a commercial weeding robot. But Grinnell said that won’t be a focus at the moment.
“It’s an interesting idea, but we do have limited resources,” he said.
Grinnell said Harvest Automation has about 200 HV-100 robots operating in Australia, Canada, Europe and the U.S. The robots are sold outright to customers with an extended service plan. Grinnell said the plant-moving robots haven’t received quite the traction he’d hoped for. “It’s a niche product,” said Grinnell. “But for those it works well for, it’s incredibly valuable for them.”
After shedding its warehouse robotics business in 2016, Grinnell said Harvest Automation became profitable the next year.
“By 2017, we had enough cash in the bank, enough capital, to develop a new product,” he said. “We started working on a new product in 2017 and that’s what we’re still working on today. That’s part of why the merger with Tertill was so important.”
Tertill uses two approaches to kill weeds. First, its wheels churn up the top layer of soil to keep weeds from sprouting. If any weeds do sprout, Tertill chops them down with its onboard string trimmer. The company first showcased its robot at our RoboBusiness 2016 startup competition and again at our 2017 CES Robotics Conference.
Tertill also seemingly hasn’t gotten the market traction it anticipated with its home weeding robot. But Grinnell is confident there are greener pastures ahead for the combined company.
“When I heard [Tertill was] looking to transition from a consumer robot to a commercial ag robot, I said they should come join our team because we have something exciting in the works,” Grinnell said. “And they said yes.”
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