Agovor, a New Zealand founded horticultural robotics company, has closed a pre-seed funding round, raising AU$3 million. The round has been led by Tenacious Ventures with co-investment coming from Hort Innovation Australia via the Hort Innovation Investment Fund, managed by Artesian, and from an individual investor via the Active Investor Plus (AIP) scheme facilitated by Invest New Zealand.
Agovor co-founders Richard Beaumont and Simon Carroll say the oversubscribed
investment round is a huge vote of confidence from the Australian industry in Agovor's practical approach to creating affordable autonomous robots for horticultural use.
"Agovor started as a way to solve a problem for our own use at Ardmore Nurseries," says Beaumont. "We had the same problems as everyone else - labour constrained, while trying to reduce costs - but there were too many barriers for adoption of new solutions."
Agovor's solution combines an electric, autonomous eTractor with a range of smart towed attachments, including mowers and sprayers. These small, lightweight tractor-and-trailer units can operate for up to 10 hours continuously, navigate narrow rows, and work reliably in heat, cold, rain or windy conditions.
"We built something that worked for us, and it's been encouraging to see our first customers across New Zealand and Australia finding the same value, whether they're working in berry tunnel houses, orchards or vineyards" continues Richard. "From here, our focus is threefold: continuing to improve the eTractor itself; expanding the range of towable implements so growers can carry out multiple tasks by simply switching trailers; and helping customers get the most out of these machines on their farms, every minute of the day and night."
The Agovor Portal enables operators to deploy, monitor and control a single eTractor or an entire fleet. Agovor is affordable for growers of all sizes such that fleets of bots can operate collaboratively and at scale in a way that would be impractical and uneconomical with conventional driver-operated tractors.
Anthony Kachenko, General Manager of Production and Sustainability at Hort Innovation, explained what this means for Australian horticulture: "Growers are telling us that Agovor's technology is delivering real‑world savings where it counts. Early adopters are already seeing upward of $30,000 in annual savings, alongside a 90% reduction in water use and a 12.5% reduction in chemical inputs. These machines may be small, but they're mighty when it comes to opening doors for horticulture growers - boosting efficiency, lowering input costs and making on‑farm automation more accessible across the sector."
Berry grower Cam Lewis, owner and operator of Lewis Farms, runs multiple Agovor
eTractors across his commercial strawberry operation. "Our eTractor, Dora, quickly proved herself on our farm, working autonomously and reliably in the tight, narrow tunnel houses we grow in. Nothing else would fit where Dora can," says Lewis. "She's simple to run, freed up our team for more skilled work, and made buying a second unit a no-brainer. A few years ago, having a fleet of robots on our farm felt like science fiction. Now it just feels inevitable."
For Wither Hills Winery, the technology has been matched by strong, consistent support on the ground. "The Agovor team have delivered a genuinely useful bit of kit. For the past 18 months, they've backed Elmo, our eTractor, with best-in-class support across hardware and software, and it's part of the reason we've ordered Kermit (Wither Hill's second eTractor)," says Mike Western, Assistant Vineyard Manager at Wither Hills Winery.
At Berry De'vine, the most noticeable impact has been on soil health and recovery. "We've seen a visible change in the soil in just one season," says Ella Julian, grower at Berry D'vine. "Izzy, our eTractor, is substantially lighter than our old tractor and has given the soil a chance to recover. The grass and plants are healthier, the tyre marks are gone, and Dad reckons the orchard is looking the best it has in years!"
Agovor CEO Mike Riley, a veteran operator in the agtech space, says the investment will allow Agovor to accelerate research and development alongside manufacturing in Sydney, Australia, and expand its sales and service infrastructure both in the New Zealand and Australia markets. "Listening and learning from feedback from existing customers has been instrumental in shaping the development of the product. Our existing users are already asking for additional attachments to fulfil a range of needs they have. We'll now be able to
aggressively pursue those product line expansion opportunities while building a sales and service network that will enable us to professionally service the needs of growers across the Australia and New Zealand market landscapes."
