FarmWise, a developer of autonomous farming robots, has raised $14.5 million in a Series A funding round. FarmWise will use the funding to grow its robotic engineering and operation teams, and to boost research and development efforts on plant-level detection and actuation capabilities.

Autonomous and enabled by artificial intelligence, FarmWise’s robots are designed to solve some of the most difficult challenges encountered by farmers. The robots perform a variety of farming functions, beginning with weeding, and providing personalized care to every plant they touch.

“The FarmWise robot is a great field solution we can rely on to tackle our critical challenges,” says Alain Pincot, owner of Bonipak and early customer of FarmWise. “It is very exciting to see the progress that has been made over the months.” 

Equipped with machine learning models, computer vision and high-precision mechanical tools, the robots are capable of cleanly picking weeds from fields, and leaving crops with the best chance to thrive while also eliminating harmful chemical inputs.

According to FarmWise, its robots have efficiently removed weeds from more than 10 million plants to date. 

“Each day, one FarmWise robot can weed crops to feed a medium-sized city of approximately 400,000 inhabitants,” says Sebastien Boyer, co-founder and CEO of FarmWise.

“We are now enhancing the scale and depth of our proprietary plant-detection technology to help growers with more of their processes and on more of their crops. Looking ahead, our robots will increasingly act as specialized doctors for crops, monitoring individual health and adjusting targeted interventions according to a crop’s individual needs.”