Insider Brief
- Fieldwork Robotics raised £3 million, including a £2.2 million round led by Elbow Beach, as it moves from validation to commercial deployment of its autonomous harvesting robots.
- The company said the funding will support farm adoption of its systems, which aim to address labor shortages and rising costs by improving productivity and reducing reliance on seasonal workers.
- Fieldwork plans U.K. trials with Place UK and Littywood Farm, with harvesting-as-a-service deployments underway and multi-robot fleets targeted for 2027.
Fieldwork Robotics announced it has raised £3 million in funding, including a £2.2 million investment round led by Elbow Beach, as it moves from technology validation to commercial deployment of its autonomous harvesting robots.
The UK startup said the capital will be used to accelerate farm adoption of its systems, which are designed to address labor shortages, rising costs and supply chain pressures in agriculture by reducing reliance on seasonal workers and improving productivity.
“Fieldwork is now entering its scale-up phase, moving from technology validation to full commercial adoption,” CEO David Fulton said in a statement. “We are excited to demonstrate how our autonomous raspberry harvesting robots can boost productivity, protect grower margins and deliver sustainable harvesting solutions in the UK and globally as we build our international traction.”
Fieldwork said it plans to deploy its production robots through a two-year harvesting-as-a-service program in Norfolk with Place UK, as well as trials at Littywood Farm in Stafford. The trials are intended to evaluate operational requirements and support broader adoption, with multi-robot fleets expected to be in use by 2027, subject to results.
The funding includes follow-on investment from Elbow Beach, which contributed £1.45 million, building on a £1.5 million seed investment in 2023 that supported development and validation of the company’s robotics and AI systems.
In addition to the equity round, Fieldwork secured £1.6 million in grant funding, including support from Innovate UK through its Farm ADOPT program, with project activities set to begin in June 2026.
Image credit: Fieldwork Robotics
