A homegrown mushroom harvesting robot is set to for commercial deployment this month, marking a milestone for ag tech in BC.
Commercialization of the fully autonomous, vision-guided mushroom harvester is the next step for 4ag Robotics Inc. of Salmon Arm, which began life as Techbrew Robotics Inc.
The company won the BC Agritech Challenge in 2019 and the following year developed an initial prototype. It began field trials at Fraser Valley mushroom farms in 2021, supported by $500,000 from the province’s agritech grant program.
The company has been a front-runner in the race to automate the mushroom harvesting process, a delicate, labour-intensive task. Yet skilled workers are few, with mushroom growers routinely having to source workers overseas.
The robots use suction cups to gently handle each mushroom, which is then trimmed, cleaned and packed at peak freshness. This maintains quality wile improving efficiency and reducing waste.
The leap to manufacturing will benefit from a recent investment of $4 million from InBC Investment Corp., announced November 16. It received $13.5 million from BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and a selection of angel investors from across Canada the same week, positioning it for growth.
In October, 4ag said it was working to fulfill purchase orders from mushroom producers in Canada and Europe. It anticipated the first commercial robots being in operation this month.
The funding announcements in November came as company founder Mike Boudreau handed the reins of the company to Sean O’Connor, formerly a board member representing venture capital fund Emmertech and now CEO. A division of Regina-based Conexus Venture Capital, Emmertech had invested $2 million in the company in 2020.
Boudreau remains president of 4ag, which he founded in 1999.
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