Blue and White Robotics secures $10m. for autonomous vehicle platform
The funding round was led by Jesselson Investments, Peregrine VC and Entrée Capital.
By HAGAY HACOHENBWR solutions being used to pollinate palms in the Jordan Valley(photo credit: PR)
Israeli hi-tech company Blue and White Robotics (BWR) announced it was able to secure $10 million in a round led by Jesselson Investments, Peregrine VC and Entrée Capital to further develop an autonomous vehicle platform, it reported in a September 15 press release. BWR already introduced a drone that can deliver COVID-19 tests inside a Netanya hospital, a drop-copter used for the pollination of palms in the Jordan Valley and an autonomous shuttle service prototype to see if one can be offered to the larger Israeli public. Stressing the "tremendous importance" his firm sees in offering tech-based solutions to the agri-food industry and the "pressing challenges" of the 21st century, Micha Jesselson of Jesselson Investments said that BWR founder Ben Alfi has "vision and values" that align with his own. Alfi, a former Israeli Air Force pilot, said how proud he is of his employees and vowed to "continue to lead the adoption of 'Robots as a Service' and autonomous technologies" in Israel and the world. “The main idea behind Robots as a Service,” he told The Jerusalem Post, “is the ability to grasp the disruption autonomous vehicles will bring into the market and enable workers to accept it – which will happen once they see how robots can answer real needs, among them labor shortage.” “Robots as a Service” is also a technical term in software design for the integration of robots, cloud computing and devices to the best extent possible.“People don’t want to own the robot,” Alfi told the Post, “they want the service it can offer them, or to move goods or people from place to place. We offer them one machine they can use to control all the others, as well as easy ways to expand the capabilities of the robots they use.”Offering the example of how BWR was recently able to increase the yield in upstate NY apple orchards by a great deal, Alfi explained that there may well be 10 billion people in the world by 2050 – and they will all need food on the table. “Autonomous tech in agriculture is the greatest revolution,” he said, “this connects to our values, love of land, fellowship – and innovation.”
