Versatile RobotX Raises €1.17M to Scale Agricultural Robotics

Versatile RobotX is taking agricultural robotics out of the research lab and into the working farm. The University of Essex spin-out is developing intelligent harvesting systems designed to handle delicate crops, automate repetitive farm work and make advanced robotics practical for growers facing labour and productivity pressures. Its technology has already been tested with UK growers including Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree and JEPCO.

The Colchester-based company has secured more than €1.17 million (£1 million) in investment and innovation funding to accelerate that transition. The funding package includes investment from British Design Fund, alongside support through Innovate UK’s Growth Catalyst and Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme. The capital will support product development, manufacturing readiness, customer engagement and broader commercial deployment.

Versatile RobotX was founded in 2024 by Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier and Dr Vishuu Mohan, robotics researchers whose work at the University of Essex spans intelligent systems, embedded computing and autonomous machines. Their company is focused on a challenge that remains surprisingly difficult for robots: recognising crops in changing conditions, deciding when they are ready, and handling them accurately without damaging valuable produce.

Its Autonomous Fruit and Vegetable Harvester combines machine vision, AI, sensors, and precision robotic manipulation to identify and pick crops. The company is also developing a Hydroponic Robotic Harvester that can recognise harvest-ready plants and move younger crops between growing stations, extending automation into controlled-environment agriculture where repetitive handling can consume significant labour.

Technology alone, however, will not determine whether these machines become everyday farm equipment. Versatile RobotX is developing a Robotics-as-a-Service model aimed at lowering the upfront cost of adoption and making automation easier for growers to introduce into existing operations. With field trials already behind it, the company’s next challenge is commercial rather than experimental: proving that intelligent harvesting robots can deliver enough reliability, flexibility and economic value to earn a permanent place on the farm.