The deal will allow John Deere to speed up the development and delivery of automation and autonomy
Bear Flag develops autonomous driving technology. (Credit: David Jenne/Pixabay)
Deere & Company has signed an agreement to acquire Silicon Valley-based agriculture technology startup Bear Flag Robotics for $250m.
Established in 2017, Bear Flag develops autonomous driving technology compatible with existing machines.
The acquisition is expected to enable John Deere to speed up the development and delivery of automation and autonomy.
In addition, it is said to be in line with the company’s long-term strategy to build smarter machines featuring advanced technology to support individual customer requirements.
With a focus on autonomy, sensor fusion, vision, data, software and hardware, the Bear Flag team comprises agriculture professionals, engineers and technologists.
John Deere chief technology officer Jahmy Hindman said: “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.
“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.”
Following the completion of the acquisition, the Bear Flag team will remain in Silicon Valley to work closely with Deere on innovation and autonomy for customers.
Since 2019, Deere has been working Bear Flag, as part of its Startup Collaborator programme. The initiative is a year-long programme that is designed to offer flexibility for Deere and startup companies to test innovative technologies with customers and dealers.
After beginning to work with Deere, Bear Flag is said to have deployed its autonomous solution on a limited number of farms in the US.
In January this year, Deere announced the addition of four leading startups to its Startup Collaborator programme.
The startups include Nori, NVision Ag, Scanit and Teleo that focus on solutions to transform their industries.