November 16, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Technology being brought to bear on mushroom farming has been a common topic this month – and there’s good reason. 

From promoting health and sustainability to nutritional benefits such as essential B vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and protein, to enhancing culinary experiences, and even contributing to ecological restoration, mushrooms are proving to be a versatile and valuable resource that enriches various aspects of our lives.

Luckily, mushrooms can be grown indoors and on a year-round basis, making them impervious to the supply chain disruptions that affect the vast majority of food crops. And although this can be achieved at nearly zero environmental cost, it comes with a high human labor cost. 

At the same time, demand continues to grow, driven by a surge in more plant-based and vegan diets, greater health consciousness, and sustainable meat and animal protein alternatives. 

TechBrew Robotics, a startup addressing the labor-intensive challenges inherent in the mushroom industry, is making strides and has announced a close on $17.5 million in equity financing and a rebranding to 4AG (pronounced “forage”) Robotics.

This funding was led by BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and InBC Investment Corp. (InBC), a $500 million public fund for whom this investment marks the first direct investment in a company. 

Also participating in the round were Emmertech, Jim Richardson Family Office, Lex Capital, and a series of angel investors from across Canada.

“We’re extremely confident in 4AG Robotics’ ability to lead the mushroom harvesting industry globally, ‘’ said Joseph Regan, managing partner, Industrial Innovation Venture Fund at BDC Capital. ‘’Their technology is helping grow mushrooms in a more efficient and sustainable manner, all while tackling the industry’s ongoing labor challenges. We’re excited for this market-driven solution to a large global problem.”

4AG Robotics explained that mushrooms thrive in dark, humid conditions, where they can double in size every 24 hours. However, they are even more fragile than tomatoes, and their delicate nature presents a real challenge for automation technologies in regard to picking, trimming, or packing. 

Given the industry’s complex logistical and labor intensive reality, mushroom farmers are in urgent need for automated solutions that can work with a highly delicate and perishable crop.

4AG Robotics stated that it stands at the forefront of addressing these critical challenges, and will use this funding to accelerate the development and deployment of cutting-edge robotic solutions for mushroom harvesting. 

 “We believe that we can build a globally successful robotics company, based right here in Salmon Arm, [British Columbia, Canada] and are eager to start growing our team,” said Sean O’Connor, CEO, 4AG Robotics.

“We’re excited about the quality of this investment group and the people we can lean on in these critical years ahead. We have the deep experience in agtech from BDC Capital & Emmertech, along with the fresh approach and new energy coming in from InBC’s new fund.”

The company has already secured purchase orders from farms in Canada and Europe, but added that it is eager to speak with more mushroom farms looking to integrate robotics into their operation. 

“We believe that in the years to come, 4AG Robotics can help indoor agriculture thrive across a variety of crops, and reduce the amount of produce we ship around the world on a daily basis,” said O’Connor. 

“However, our core focus right now is helping mushroom farms around the world increase their profitability, and harness our robots to reduce the environmental impact of farming,”
Leah Nguyen, chief investment officer, InBC, added, “We have seen 4AG’s ability to address the challenges in our mushroom industry and believe in their potential to lead positive transformation of the agriculture sector, a sector that drives considerable value to the B.C. economy.”

“Their innovation is enabling mushroom farmers to optimize their harvest sustainably, providing significant improvement to farm economics and farm yield, and allowing them to supplement the traditional labor-intensive process. We are excited to see where 4AG takes this technology here in B.C. and globally.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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