FarmFleet is developing a “Robotics-as-a-Service” marketplace for farmers and their service providers. This will create new opportunities to perform or manage a variety of field operations involving drones and robots, optimize and adapt them to “changing weather conditions, limited resources and seasonal peak periods.”
FarmFleet’s platform initially focuses on the use of spraying drones.
The startup claims its “concept and approaches meet the sustainable development goals” as “using ag drones significantly reduces the cost of PDR, fuel water and reduces CO2 emissions.”
FarmFleet was founded in 2022, amid the war, by DroneUA, an integrator of drone solutions. In late June 2023, the company announced the completion of a $550,000 seed round involving an undisclosed foreign investor at a $3.7 million valuation.
Founder Valery Yakovenko also announced the beginning of its expansion to the US market — even though the English version of its website still leaves much to be desired.
Yakovenko expects to gain “valuable experience” in the USA regarding startup scaling and farming business, while “contributing to the penetration of innovation, efficiency and security” in global agriculture.
Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation, hailed FarmFleet’s first successes on Telegram: “This is a great case study of the courage of Ukrainian business. (…) Ukraine is confidently moving towards becoming number one in the field of high technologies. Our drones, robots and other technological products are already a competitive advantage in many areas, including agriculture. We continue to do everything to have Ukrainian technology startups not only remain in the country, but also scale up, in spite of [Russia’s] invasion.”
