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Swap Robotics entered our orbit final yr, when the agency was a finalist for our Battlefield competition at Disrupt 2022. In a world filled with robotic mowers, the startup grabbed the judges’ consideration with a modular design that permits for the titular fast swapping of batteries and performance with attachments for issues like snowplowing.
The agency additionally made waves with a much more specialised focus than most. Relatively than going after each business or house garden, Swap has centered its efforts solely on photo voltaic farms — a rising market, to make sure.
“The photo voltaic market is a beachhead marketplace for us,” founder and CEO Tim Lichti tells TechCrunch. “Beginning with photo voltaic vegetation reducing solves a large drawback for purchasers, since reducing the grass and vegetation is the most important ongoing expense as soon as utility-scale photo voltaic installations are constructed. Giant photo voltaic websites are fenced off from the general public, and that permits our 100% electrical robots to securely run 24/7 and maximize acreage lower per thirty days. The worldwide marketplace for photo voltaic cuts is predicted to achieve tens of billions of {dollars} yearly by the 2030s.”
Whereas the corporate didn’t stroll away with the highest prize, it has grabbed bankable investor curiosity. Immediately it’s introduced a $7 million seed spherical, led by SOLV Power, a California-based photo voltaic supplier. The spherical additionally options backing from SOSV’s HAX division.
It’s a troublesome fundraising surroundings, to make certain, however Lichti says the present pleasure round sustainability efforts was sufficient to counteract these headwinds when it got here to elevating the corporate’s seed.
Picture Credit: Swap Robotics
“Elevating within the present financial local weather has been pretty simple for us as a local weather tech–centered firm,” he provides. “Now we have the tailwinds of the IRA, an industry-leading product and an skilled workforce of 40 individuals. We’re presently in talks with a number of of the 50 largest photo voltaic asset homeowners for extra funding.”
The corporate has already begun deploying its methods to pick farms within the southern U.S., with plans to develop to different components of the nation in 2023. A world growth is predicted to start subsequent yr. For now, the photo voltaic market alone is a big focus for the corporate’s progress, notably within the wake of an ongoing labor scarcity.
Swap costs by means of a subscription-based RaaS (robots-as-a-service) mannequin, based mostly on quite a lot of elements, together with frequency and terrain. Lichti says the corporate has already lined up $9 million in contracts for the subsequent three years.
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