John Deere to acquire Silicon Valley startup for $250mln

The initiative enhances Deere’s interaction with start-up companies whose technology could add value for its customers

Deere & Company is to acquire Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million. 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 views autonomy as an important step forward in enabling farmers to leverage their resources strategically to feed the world and create more sustainable and profitable operations, said Jahmy Hindman, chief technology officer at John Deere, said in a press release.

Bear Flag’s team of talented agriculture professionals, engineers and technologists have a proven ability to deliver advanced technology solutions to market. Joining that expertise and experience with Deere’s expertise in autonomy, along with our world-class dealer channel, will accelerate the delivery of solutions to farmers that address the immense challenge of feeding a growing world, he said.

The two companies have been working together since 2019, as part of Deere’s Startup Collaborator program. This initiative enhances and deepens Deere’s interaction with start-up companies whose technology could add value for its customers. Since participating in the program, Bear Flag has been successful in deploying its autonomous solution on farms across the U.S.

One of the biggest challenges farmers face today is the availability of skilled labour to execute time-sensitive operations that impact farming outcomes. Autonomy offers a safe and productive alternative to address that challenge head on, said Igino Cafiero, co-founder and CEO of Bear Flag Robotics.

He said Bear Flag’s mission to increase global food production and reduce the cost of growing food through machine automation is aligned with Deere’s, and we’re excited to join the Deere team to bring autonomy to more farms.

Deere and Bear Flag are highly complementary from both a technology and mission perspective, said Dan Leibfried, director of automation and autonomy at Deere. We look forward to working even closer together with the ultimate goal of helping farmers achieve the best possible outcomes through advanced technology like autonomy.

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