Bonsai Robotics’ Visionsteer, whose vision-based navigation is shown here, works with equipment from multiple OEMs.
Bonsai Robotics Inc. today announced its acquisition of farm-ng Inc. This strategic combination brings together two innovative agtech companies. They said they have a shared vision to deliver artificial intelligence and robotic systems to tackle the labor, cost, and efficiency challenges that growers face today.
San Jose, Calif.-based Bonsai Robotics said it will integrate its high-performance autonomous AI technology with farm-ng’s customizable robotic platform to transform crop management. This combination of software and hardware will enable cost-effective, mixed-fleet solutions that boost efficiency and reduce operational costs across diverse crops, tasks, and environments, the company asserted.
“To date, our vision has been to make autonomy and AI accessible, easy to use, and deployable across all farm equipment, whether retrofitted onto existing tractors or built into the next generation machine,” said Tyler Niday, co-founder and CEO and co-founder of Bonsai Robotics.”
“This acquisition allows us to now develop those next-generation machines to augment and empower today’s workforce while optimizing farm productivity,” he added. “We are shifting the industry from iron to intelligence.”
Bonsai said that it and farm-ng have a strong track record of collaboration across vineyards, orchards, and bedded crops, demonstrating proven field results and commercial momentum. It noted that the acquisition positions the combined company for rapid growth, supported by active commercial deployments and strong financial backing.
“From Day 1, both teams have been deeply aligned on making robotics and AI practical and seamless for real-world agricultural workflows,” said Brendan Dowdle, former CEO of farm-ng and now chief business officer of the combined company. “By joining forces, we can move faster, helping growers adopt transformative tools that support their operations and improve their bottom line.”
farm-ng last week announced updates to its on-robot software stack. The agricultural robotics company stated that the updates demonstrate its commitment to providing affordable, practical, and user-friendly systems for small and mid-sized farms.
Bonsai Robotics CEO shares origin story
Niday told The Robot Report that the acquisition resulted from a natural alignment between Bonsai and Farm-ng. The companies had similar theses about agriculture technology and had been interacting at trade shows. They started talking and found they meshed well culturally and shared a vision for the future of agricultural autonomy.
The partners had complementary strengths — Bonsai was software-heavy and farm-ng has innovative form factors and hardware, according to Niday. The merger was organic, driven by shared goals rather than external pressures, he said.
The focus of the combined company is to become the world leader in autonomy and intelligent software for outdoor machines, particularly in agriculture. Key objectives include:
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- Developing a simple and intuitive app to manage agricultural machine fleets from a central interface
- Adding intelligence to existing equipment to extend its usability
- Unlocking new form factors for agricultural machinery, particularly smaller “micro tractors” that can improve return on investment (ROI)
- Using advanced AI and computer vision technologies for autonomous navigation and operation
- Creating a comprehensive software stack that can integrate with existing farm equipment and enable autonomous operations
- Focusing on applications like spraying, mowing, herbicide application, weeding, and transportation
The combination of Bonsai and Watsonville, Calif.-based farm-ng aims to transition agriculture from traditional “iron” machinery to software-driven, intelligent systems that can operate more efficiently and with less human intervention.
The new Amiga-Max mobile robotic platform from farm-ng. | Credit: The Robot Report
Agtech and autonomy expert names new execs
The combined team, along with recent new hires, brings deep expertise spanning agriculture, robotics, AI, and engineering. Joining the Bonsai team in connection with the acquisition are Chief Operating Officer John Teeple, former director of technology at John Deere, and Gary Bradski, a key figure in the evolution of computer vision and founder of OpenCV, as chief science officer.
“We are excited to be able to bring together an industry-leading team of engineers to address the very difficult task of integrating hardware, compute, and perception necessary to accommodate the unpredictability of real-world farming,” said Ugur Oezdemir, co-founder and chief technology officer of Bonsai. “With this acquisition, we can develop a unified platform that is complementary to our OEM partners and capable of addressing the variability across form factors, crop types, and geographies to deliver effective and reliable autonomy in the field.”
Financial terms of this acquisition were not disclosed. Existing shareholders of both companies will retain ownership stakes in the newly combined entity, to be named Bonsai Robotics.
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