Bonsai Robotics acquires farm-ng to drive practical AI integration in agriculture
The two California firms will now operate as one, aiming to build smarter, adaptable farm machines for real-world use.
USA – Bonsai Robotics has acquired farm-ng in a deal that joins two California-based companies focused on making artificial intelligence and robotics useful for agriculture.
With this move, Bonsai Robotics will combine its AI-driven autonomy software with farm-ng’s modular robot hardware to build new machines that meet everyday farming needs.
Tyler Niday, CEO and co-founder of Bonsai Robotics, said the deal supports their plan to create machines that are easy to use and help improve productivity on farms.
“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 Niday.
“This acquisition allows us to now develop those next generation machines to augment and empower today’s workforce while optimizing farm productivity. We are shifting the industry from iron to intelligence.”
The companies have worked together in the past on test deployments in orchards, vineyards, and row crops. Their work showed clear improvements in both efficiency and cost reduction.
Now, with the full merger, they plan to offer a broader range of machines that can handle different terrains, crops, and tasks.
The new company leadership includes key industry experts. John Teeple, who once led technology at John Deere, joins as Chief Operating Officer.
Gary Bradski, founder of OpenCV and a well-known expert in computer vision, is now Chief Science Officer. Brendan Dowdle, former CEO of farm-ng, takes the role of Chief Business Officer.
Dowdle emphasized that both teams have shared goals from the start.
“From day one, both teams have been deeply aligned on making robotics and AI practical and seamless for real-world agricultural workflows,” said Dowdle.
“By joining forces, we can move faster, helping growers adopt transformative tools that support their operations and improve their bottom line.”
Funding and future growth
This acquisition comes just six months after Bonsai Robotics raised $15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Bison Ventures, with support from Cibus Capital and other investors.
Bonsai plans to use the funds to improve its software and expand its partnerships with equipment makers and growers.
“We have made significant progress building our AI model and data set for autonomous orchard management since our seed round of funding a year ago, so this additional funding is strong validation of the incredible work our team has accomplished and our future growth prospects,” said Niday.
The company’s core product, Visionsteer™, helps growers gather real-time insights and manage field operations through automated vehicle control, crop analysis, and job scheduling.
The solution is already in use across the U.S. and Australia, covering over 500,000 acres of farmland.
With the acquisition of farm-ng and a growing base of clients, Bonsai Robotics now aims to build machines that directly respond to today’s most pressing needs in agriculture: reducing costs, saving time, and making better decisions in the field.
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