Strawberry harvesting robot manufacture Traptic has been acquired by vertical farming company Bowery, for an undisclosed sum, and will now be exclusively deployed in Bowery’s network of indoor farms.
The announcement follows the news that Bowery will begin to sell strawberries as part of its retail offering. The company did not reveal if Traptic’s technology will be used in the harvesting process of the initial batches.
Traptic’s solution, which features a robotic arm capable of harvesting soft fruit without damaging it using a vision system, will now be removed from its existing autonomous platform and integrated into BoweryOS.
“Traptic’s team and their technology will be able to integrate into our existing farm operations providing further opportunities to create efficiency and scalability in our farms. At the same time, their experience and expertise around strawberries and fruiting crops are an important extension for us in this next phase of the business,” Bowery co-founder and CEO, Irving Fain told TechCrunch.
“This acquisition aligns with our existing plans to commercially launch strawberries this spring, and will fuel our growth with other fruiting and vine crops while driving increased productivity and efficiency.”
Traptic’s co-found and CEO Lewis Anderson will serve as the senior director of Bowery’s Robotic Solutions team, which will integrate into its existing Robotics and Automation division. Traptic also plans to maintain its operations in California.
