Upside Robotics has raised $7.5 million in seed funding to propel its next phase of growth, giving the Velocity-based startup momentum to deepen its partnerships with farmers and agricultural companies across Canada. The funding round was led by Plural, with participation from Garage Capital, Entrepreneurs First and the founders of Clearpath Robotics. The round brings Upside Robotics’ total funding to more than $11 million.
Co-founded by Sam Dugan and Jana Tian, Upside Robotics is focused on transforming agriculture through sustainable automation. The company develops remote-management, AI-enabled, lightweight autonomous robots that apply fertilizer precisely where crops need it. The system enables farmers to monitor fields, track crop health, and deliver nutrients more efficiently without physically entering the fields.
The company says its technology has been developed in close collaboration with farmers, with its systems refined season by season. That approach has resulted in more than 10,000 autonomous kilometers driven and over 100,000 liters of fertilizer applied across more than 1,300 acres.
Upside Robotics is one of several agri-tech companies growing within Velocity, the flagship incubator of the University of Waterloo. Since launching in 2008, Velocity has supported more than 500 startups, collectively generating over $40 billion in enterprise value.
With the new capital, Upside Robotics plans to expand its partnerships and further develop its precision agriculture platform, enabling farmers to manage operations remotely through continuous analytics and actionable insights, while aligning farm profitability with climate goals.
KEY QUOTES
“Trust in robotics is earned in the field, not the lab. We built the system side by side with farmers, season by season. Today, that work has translated into more than 10,000 autonomous kilometers driven and over 100,000 liters of fertilizer applied across more than 1,300 acres.”
Sam Dugan, Co-Founder of Upside Robotics
“Our vision is a world where farmers can effortlessly manage their operations remotely with continuous analytics and actionable insights while contributing positively to the environment. We want to align farm profitability with climate goals through innovation in precision agriculture.”
Sam Dugan, Co-Founder of Upside Robotics
