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Frontier IP Group plc
10 August 2023
Reach - a non-regulatory announcement
AIM: FIPP
10 August 2023
Frontier IP Group Plc
("Frontier IP" or the "Group")
Portfolio news - Fieldwork Robotics raises GBP1.5 million from
Elbow Beach Capital and appoints David Fulton as CEO
Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual
property, today welcomes the announcement below from Elbow Beach
Capital, which is investing GBP1.5 million in the Group's portfolio
company Fieldwork Robotics ("Fieldwork" or the "Company"). The
investment is part of an equity funding round by Fieldwork of more
than GBP2 million.
The fundraising values Fieldwork at GBP6.7 million post money.
As part of the funding round, Frontier IP has invested GBP172,000
through the conversion of loans and trade debt. Following the
conversion, the Group no longer has any loans or trade debt with
Fieldwork and now has a 22% equity interest in the Company . A
further amount of up to GBP600,000 is expected to be raised by
Fieldwork via a Seedrs' funding round opening today .
Fieldwork has also appointed David Fulton as Chief Executive
Officer, with effect from 17 (th) July 2023. David has more than 30
years' business experience, most recently as co-founder and
director of LAB+BONE, a service to protect dogs' identity by using
DNA. Before starting LAB+BONE, he was Chief Executive Office of
WeSee, a company using advanced computer vision technology
mimicking the human brain's ability to understand and process
visual information. He previously held executive positions with
Expedia, Adform and Microsoft.
Rui Andr es , former CEO of Fieldwork, will continue as CEO of
fellow Frontier IP portfolio company, Molendotech, but now on a
full-time basis.
Fieldwork has developed the world's first raspberry-harvesting
robots, which are now picking fruit in Portugal at farms run by the
Summer Berry Company. Customers of the Summer Berry Company include
leading supermarkets such as Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S.
The Company will use the proceeds from the round to grow its
team, outsource robot manufacture and attract more farmers to its
harvesting-as-a-service offering. Fieldwork aims to increase the
harvesting speed of its robots and have more than 100 robots
available to farmers by 2025.
Frontier IP Chief Executive Officer Neil Crabb said: "We are
delighted with Elbow Beach Capital's support for Fieldwork Robotics
and the appointment of David Fulton as the Company's CEO. I look
forward to the successful completion of the funding round through
Seedrs and to Fieldwork's future success. "
Elbow Beach Capital announcement begins:
EBC Leads Seed Round into Raspberry Picking Robot Developer
EBC Leads Seed Round into Raspberry Picking Robot Developer
Leaders in their field: Fieldwork Robotics creator of the
world's first raspberry picking robot secures funding to enhance
its technology and expand operational footprint
-- Elbow Beach Capital has committed GBP1.5m to an ongoing GBP2m+ fundraise
-- Additional funding provided by a Seedrs round
-- Over GBP60m worth of crops are due to be wasted by UK farms this year
-- Fieldwork's proprietary AI and robotics technology is
designed to tackle labour, wastage and efficiency issues in the UK
and internationally
-- Fieldwork benefits from an existing commercial partnership
signed with the Summer Berry Company with raspberries picked by its
robots already in Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose
Link to Seedrs page:
https://www.seedrs.com/fieldwork-robotics
Cambridge, 10 August 2023 - Elbow Beach Capital , the
decarbonisation, sustainability and social impact investor today
announces its third AgriTech investment, backing harvesting robot
developers, Fieldwork Robotics Ltd. Elbow Beach contributed GBP1.5
million and an ongoing Seedrs round which opened to new investors
today is expected to raise an additional GBP600k. The round closes
in September. Frontier IP, a family office and other existing
investors have also followed on in this round.
Farms in Europe, and worldwide, are suffering from a continuous
and worsening shortage of workers. In the UK, this problem has been
exacerbated by Covid-19, Brexit, the war in Ukraine and high
employment levels in competing sectors, with the National Farmers'
Union suggesting that as much as GBP60m of food will be left to rot
on farms this year due to labour shortages.
Initially focusing on soft fruits, such as raspberries,
Fieldwork Robotics has developed advanced, AI-supported harvesting
robots to help solve the problem of worker shortages, increase farm
efficiency and reduce food wastage in the UK and beyond. Raspberry
producers in particular face several issues including chronic
labour shortages and dwindling net margins. Picking raspberries
alone accounts for over 50% of total production costs.
Spun out of the University of Plymouth and now based in
Cambridge, Fieldwork benefits from a highly experienced team with
backgrounds in applied sciences, electronics, engineering, software
and manufacturing. This experience allowed the Fieldwork team to
develop the first autonomous raspberry harvesting robot, in
collaboration with Bosch. The robot, named Alpha, analyses the
crop, decides when to harvest the raspberries, and places them in
punnets ready for delivery to supermarkets.
Alpha gives growers the ability to extend operations to 24 hours
a day, increasing harvesting time threefold. With farmers
struggling to recruit farm workers, Alpha can provide assurance
that farmers' capability to harvest will not be impacted by
seasonal or policy-led variations in available labour supply.
Fieldwork's technology therefore allows growers to significantly
increase their harvesting efficiency and reduce the food wastage
caused by human labour shortages.
Working in collaboration with the Summer Berry Company ,
Fieldwork has deployed Alpha to farms in Portugal, and the fruit it
harvests is currently being sold in the UK's top supermarkets
including M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.
Prior to this round, Fieldwork received over GBP700,000 in
backing from Innovate UK and support from EIT Food , giving the
company access to a network of entrepreneurs, agricultural leaders
and academics. Fieldwork will use the proceeds of this round to
grow its team, begin outsourcing the manufacture of its robots and
onboard more farmers to its harvesting-as-a-service offering. The
company aims to have over 100 robots available for
harvesting-as-a-service by 2025 and treble the harvesting speed of
its robots.
The immediate focus of Fieldwork is to address the pressing
issue of unharvested soft fruit, particularly focusing on
raspberries, which represent a $2bn global market opportunity.
Global demand for raspberries continues unabated with an impressive
c.22% annual export growth.
Fieldwork has recently recruited David Fulton as CEO who brings
a wealth of knowledge in AI, technology development and
marketing.
Jon Pollock, CEO of Elbow Beach Capital: "The Fieldwork Robotics
team combine their significant technical expertise with a drive to
create an instant and lasting impact. Agriculture as it stands is
not fit for purpose and we need innovative technologies to
alleviate the unsustainable levels of waste and improve the
economics for the farmer and end customers in the sector. We look
forward to working closely with Fieldwork as they tackle this issue
head on."
David Fulton, CEO of Fieldwork Robotics: "Elbow Beach Capital
are a great strategic and cultural fit for us. As a genuine impact
investor, it's clear that EBC are not only looking for potential
value, but also at the impact of their investments and how they can
make the world a better place. This round will support our work
with forward-looking farms looking to solve their labour shortages,
reduce crop wastage and mitigate food inflation."
This is Elbow Beach Capital's third investment in the AgriTech
space, having already invested in broccoli protein specialists, UPP
and asparagus robot specialists, Muddy Machines .
Elbow Beach Capital statement ends.
ENQUIRIES
Frontier IP Group Plc T: 020 7332 2338
Neil Crabb, Chief Executive neil@frontierip.co.uk
Andrew Johnson, Communications & Investor M: 07464 546 025
Relations
Company website: www.frontierip.co.uk
Elbow Beach Capital: Vigo Consulting elbowbeach@vigoconsulting.com
Charlie Neish +44 (0)20 7390 0226
Verity Snow +44 (0)20 7390 0232
info@fieldworkrobotics.com
Fieldwork Robotics Ltd
David Fulton, CEO info@fieldworkrobotics.com
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser)
Nick Athanas / George Payne
About Elbow Beach Capital
Elbow Beach Capital is a private investment company focused on
sustainable energy, decarbonisation and social impact businesses.
EBC supports exceptional founders and their teams in scaling their
businesses through capital investments, coupled with ESG and
go-to-market expertise. EBC is currently the UK's most active
specialist seed investor in climate technology, backing innovative
entrepreneurs who are building businesses that will have a positive
impact on our planet and society.
Learn more about Elbow Beach Capital:
www.elbowbeachcapital.com
ABOUT FIELDWORK ROBOTICS
Fieldwork Robotics was founded in 2016 by Martin Stoelen.
Focusing on the harvesting of soft fruits using both vertical and
horizontal robots, Fieldwork aims to solve the interrelated
problems of worker shortages, farm inefficiency and food
wastage.
Fieldwork's proprietary AI technology combined with its unique
modular soft robotic arms bring together cutting-edge hardware and
software to offer highly advanced harvesting robots.
Learn more about Fieldwork Robotics:
www.fieldworkrobotics.com
ABout frontier IP
Frontier IP unites science and commerce by identifying strong
intellectual property and accelerating its development through a
range of commercialisation services. A critical part of the Group's
work is involving relevant industry partners at an early stage of
development to ensure technology meets real world demands and
needs.
The Group looks to build and grow a portfolio of equity stakes
and licence income by taking an active involvement in spin-out
companies, including support for fund raising and collaboration
with relevant industry partners at an early stage of
development.
Frontier IP is the commercialisation partner for the University
of Plymouth.
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