Setback
Its lead investor pulled out of a planned funding round, leaving the company without money to keep going.
A delay, pause or setback · Company-reported
What the source says
“Small Robot Company’s lead investor has pulled its funding, leaving the UK company with no runway to continue operations.”
What it means
Tom crop-scanning robot, from Small Robot Company, is at stage 3 of 5 on our ladder: pilot. A setback stays on the record next to the milestones; the stage moves down only when the rules say so. This line rests on the company's own announcement; no regulator, customer or independent report confirms it in our sources yet.
Human help: The maker hasn't said whether people help it remotely.
More on Tom crop-scanning robot
- Farmers Weekly reported that farmers who had invested in the company might not get their money back.
- Small Robot Company shut down after failing to raise the money for its next stage; Kroll was appointed to sell its assets.
- The company said its service that season had shown up to 90% savings on weedkiller and 24% on fertiliser.
- The company said it would roll out its robot crop-scanning service to 50 farms the next season, with nearby farms sharing a robot.
- Waitrose's Leckford Estate farm was among the first in the UK to sign up for the robot service.
- At the end of 2022 the company launched version 4 of Tom, its crop-scouting robot.