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Robot maker · registered

Upside Robotics

Corporate marketagricultureCurated record
upsiderobotics.com

Upside Robotics builds lightweight solar-powered autonomous robots that navigate corn fields and deliver precision amounts of fertilizer to individual plants, reducing fertilizer use by up to 70% ($150 savings per acre per season). The fleet has accumulated over 10,000 autonomous kilometres driven and 100,000+ litres of fertilizer applied across 1,300+ commercial acres. Founded by Entrepreneurs First alumni with mechatronics and agtech backgrounds; backed by Clearpath Robotics founders.

HeadquartersWaterloo, CA
Founded2024
Corporate funding$11M
Team1-10
Deployments2
Open roles0
01

Company overview

Identity and operating footprint

Company typeRobot maker
Market segmentCorporate
StageSeed
FoundersSam Dugan (co-founder), Jana Tian (co-founder)
Regions servedNorth America
Countries deployedCA
Service footprintHQ in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (at Velocity incubator, University of Waterloo); 80 Maize Runner robots + 40 base stations deployed across 3,000+ Ontario corn acres for 2026 season; 100% customer retention year-over-year; US market entry in progress
Last reviewed2026-07-05
MX

Robot models

Specifications remain vendor-claimed

Machineagriculture

Maize Runner

  • 22 inches wide; fits between 30-inch corn rows without crop damage

    vendor-stated robot width for inter-row navigation in corn fields

    Claim source
  • 50 L / 13-gallon tank with autonomous base-station refill

    vendor-stated fertilizer tank capacity

    Claim source
  • ~1 acre/hour coverage; up to 100 acres per unit per week

    vendor-stated field coverage rate under operating conditions

    Claim source
  • 10-hour battery life; 60-minute full recharge

    vendor-stated continuous operating runtime and recharge duration

    Claim source
DP

Deployment log

Announced and cited only

AnnouncedCustomerSiteCountryCountEvidence
2026-02-11Undisclosed Ontario grain farmscorn fieldsCANot disclosedAnnouncement
2026-02-11Benderbrook Farmscorn fields, precision fertilizer applicationCANot disclosedAnnouncement
CA

Funding history

Publicly announced rounds

Investors on recordPluralGarage CapitalEntrepreneurs FirstANIMO VenturesMoxxie VenturesScale Good Ventures
TL

Company timeline

Milestones and announcements

2026-04-01Gen 5 Maize Runner deployed; fleet of 80 robots + 40 base stations on 3,000+ Ontario corn acres for 2026 season; 2027 model pre-orders open at $100 depositUpside Robotics
2026-02-13Raised $7.5M seed round led by Plural (total funding >$11M); 1,200+ acres operated commercially in 2025 with 100% customer retention; 200+ farms on waitlistAgroTech Space
SC

Source ledger

5 unique public sources

01
Upside Robotics is reducing fertilizer use and waste in corn cropsTechCrunch · retrieved 2026-07-05
02
$7.5 million seed funding helps Upside Robotics plant the seeds for successUniversity of Waterloo · retrieved 2026-07-05
03
Maize RunnerUpside Robotics · retrieved 2026-07-05
04
Upside RoboticsUpside Robotics · retrieved 2026-07-05
05
Upside Robotics Secures $7.5M to Expand Autonomous Fertilizer SystemsAgroTech Space · retrieved 2026-07-05