: The start-up company Fieldin announced the acquisition of another Israeli start-up - Midnight Robotics

Intra-Israeli acquisition in the field of agrotech (agricultural technology): The start-up company FIELDIN, which developed a system for managing agricultural activity, announced today (Wednesday) the acquisition of another Israeli start-up - Midnight Robotics, which converts ordinary tractors into autonomous tractors without a driver. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
According to the companies' announcement, the acquisition will make it possible to integrate autonomous tractors in a solution that Feldain offers for agricultural farms. Today, Fildin's system collects and monitors agricultural activity data and turns them into insights and recommendations for the farmer. At the heart of the solution is a small computer, which is installed on each tractor in the fleet, and allows the data to be collected from the field. Now, in addition to the existing product, the company will want to offer customers in the field of agriculture to equip tractors and agricultural equipment with technological kits based on Lidar (laser sensor) and thus turn them into autonomous tools.
"Using Midnight Robotics technology, fully integrated into Fildain's software platform, farmers, relying on the exact recommendations from Fildain's system, will be able to send driver-free tools to various tasks on the farm, regardless of farm manpower availability at the moment, ensuring high efficiency and accuracy From the human alternative, "explains Boaz Bachar, CEO of Fildin.
The company adds that they are in the process of first commercial assimilation of the technology on farms in California, primarily in specific areas, such as spraying, and subsequently for additional missions. "The agricultural industry will benefit from the fruits of Fildain - Midnight's autonomy for many years before the autonomous vehicles reach the same maturity," Bachar explains. "In our estimation, a farm in California, for example, which is beginning its autonomous journey with Fildain today, could reach a state within about two years that most of the vehicles on the farm are already traveling autonomously."
Fildin notes that there has been a demand for autonomous solutions in the field of agriculture, due to the shortage of manpower for work in agriculture. "In the past year, Fieldain's customers have begun to actively seek out autonomous operational solutions for farm implementation. Farms have told us about a shortage of more than 50% of the manpower they need during the peak seasons throughout 2021," says Bachar.
Fildin, founded in 2013 by Yiftach Birger and Boaz Bachar, has raised $ 55 million to date, and employs 120 people in Yokneam and California. She calls her product an "agricultural operating system," and she currently serves customers in Israel, California and Australia.
Midnight Robotics (formerly "SoftTrade") was founded in 2019 by Yonatan Horowitz and Ido Reshef, both from Innoviz, which developed Lidar technology for autonomous vehicles. The company's original idea was to take the lidar technology developed by Invis to various industries, including agriculture and security. About a year ago the company decided to focus on the agriculture industry. The company raised $ 2 million (including from Invis) and generated $ 1 million in revenue from collaborations with tractor manufacturers.
Midnight employs 15 people in the field of algorithmics, computer vision and artificial intelligence. Horowitz will join Fildain as VP of Autonomy, and Reshef will become Fildain's VP of Technology. Both will also be defined as partners in the company.
Fildin is not the only one investing in autonomous tractor technology and farm automation. For example, a direct local competitor of Fieldain is the Israeli company BWR, which over the years has developed technologies for autonomous and glider tools - and has made a change in business direction in favor of agriculture. Today, the company is developing a platform for autonomous management of agricultural farms and turning existing tools - for example tractors - into autonomous tools. The company raised $ 37 million in September.
In addition, last August, tractor giant John Deere acquired Bar Plug Robotics for $ 250 million, with the goal of making agricultural tools autonomous.