Frontier IP Group Plc’s portfolio firm Fieldwork Robotics has won over £500,000 in funding from Innovate UK. The money will be used to accelerate the development of its raspberry-picking robot.
Frontier, which holds a 27.5% stake in Fieldwork, said the funding would put towards a project to create a multi-armed robot prototype
The award forms part of the UK’s industrial strategy challenge fund, an effort by the government to boost R & D funding by £4.7bn over the next four years. Frontier said it expected Fieldwork to seek further funding from institutional and private investors during 2019 to support the development of its fruit-picking robots.
As the availability of farm labourers continues to decline in the long-term, farmers are becoming increasingly interested in robotics technology which can make up for the shortfall, an issue that has been brought into sharper focus in the UK due to Brexit.
Source: proactiveinvestors.co.uk