Barnstorm Agtech Awarded $350,000 R&D Grant via Innovation Saskatchewan’s Agtech Growth Fund (AGF)
TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ – Barnstorm Agtech, Inc. (www.barnstormag.tech) was recently awarded a $350,000 grant by the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada in support of R&D for autonomous driverless tractor swarms. The grant was awarded and will be administered by Innovation Saskatchewan (www.innovationsask.ca). Funding is from its Agtech Growth Fund (AGF), contingent upon achieving various technology milestones.
Through this grant, Innovation Saskatchewan will support and further enable research and testing that is to be conducted at broadacre farms in Saskatchewan and Alberta. During 2021 the Company has also raised $1 million in seed funding from individual investors and two prominent angel syndicates: 99Tartans (Carnegie Mellon University alumni investors) and Reinforced Ventures (an angel syndicate focused on Autonomy, Robotics and Deep Science).
“We greatly appreciate the support and forward thinking expressed by Innovation Saskatchewan in support of our mission”, stated Parker Wells, Barnstorm’s CEO and co-founder.
Barnstorm Agtech is a Saskatchewan based start-up developing the Barnstormer™, a mid-sized, hybrid-electric autonomous, swarming farm tractor. “The future of farming is all about smaller, much smarter, and much less expensive machines deployed in fast-acting swarms over fields,” predicts Mr. Wells. “We call this ‘Barnstorming™'”
With this approach, the company aims to reduce environmental impact, increase yields, and mitigate downtime risks. According to the grant proposal, “swarms of autonomous compact tractors will provide more flexibility, greater precision, and lower labour inputs for modern farming operations.” This will directly address the chronic labour shortages of the Canadian Prairies.
All monetary figures stated in this press release are Canadian dollars.
About Innovation Saskatchewan: The Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund (SAIF) and Agtech Growth Fund (AGF) support commercialization of game-changing technological innovations in the province’s core economic sectors. AGF operates in parallel as a research and development funding program designed specifically to accelerate the commercialization of technological innovations in the province’s agricultural sector. For more information about the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund (SAIF), and Agtech Growth Fund (AGF), visit www.innovationsask.ca
About Barnstorm: Barnstorm Agtech Inc. is an agriculture robotics start-up based in Saskatchewan, Canada. The company was founded in 2020 by Parker Wells, a 4th generation farmer, and by co-founder Mitchell London, a serial entrepreneur, roboticist, and investor. The company is developing a system of easily transported “swarms” of tractor-like driverless vehicles This autonomous system is intended to complete basic farm operations such as tillage, spraying, & spreading faster, at lower cost, and with no “single point of failure” risks. Barnstorming™, Barnstormer™, and B.O.T.S. ™ are trademarks of Barnstorm Agtech, Inc. https://www.barnstormag.tech
Disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (USA), including statements regarding anticipated operational results and objectives. While the Company considers such forward-looking statements to be reasonable, such forward–looking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management and involve risk and uncertainties, which may result in different outcomes than those contained in the forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Barnstorm Agtech Inc.