Robotics innovator Wootzano has surpassed a crowdfunding target, raising more than £380,000 with the promise of £200,000 more in the near future.
The North East-based provider of food packing systems launched a Crowdcube campaign last year with a target of nearly £358,000. Now that target has been exceeded with 120 backers on the public platform pledging £381,216 in total. The firm has also lined up US investor Danjaq LLC which is expected to provide £200,000 directly.
The fundraising follows the latest in a string of multimillion-pound deals which Wootzano has struck around the world. In November, the Tyneside-based Business of the Year at the 2024 North East Business Awards, announced a partnership with Malaysian consultancy VCI Global that will introduce its flagship Avarai robot to Malaysian customers and was said to be worth £30m.
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At the time the Crowdcube campaign was launched, bosses said the funds would be used for product development and growing the firm's intellectual property (IP) which includes 16 patents granted on more than 30 applications. That IP includes protection of its electronic skin technology which is central to the ability of Wootzano robots to handle soft fruit and vegetables with the delicacy required not to damage them.
The ground breaking electronic skin helps the firm's robot arms to sense, pick up and pack produce with capabilities similar to a human but more efficiently. Wootzano says the system takes up about the same space as a human on a packing line, but can drive greater productivity.
The technology is intended to appeal to large food companies who are facing shortages of labour. There have also been efforts to apply it to harvesting of food crops, with research taking place through the £9.13m Agri-OpenCore programme led by a major 海角视频 tomato producer and part of DEFRA’s Farming Innovation Programme
In the past two years the innovative system has helped Wootzano land a variety of reportedly high value deals including with agriculture energy specialist Xcela Inc to supply the robots in Canada. That £161m deal announced in March 2024 is a five year agreement which initially focusses on the use of robots for the Ontario region's vine tomato growing industry.
There have also been agreements in California, where Wootzano employs a number of people, targeting the significant grape growing industry, and in Japan with the Avarai robots destined for business near Nagoya and for use in packing the country's large 'amaou' strawberries.
Last year, the growth prompted Wootzano to shift its North East base from Sedgefield to North Tyneside - taking space on Cobalt Business Park that was formerly occupied by engineering giant Siemens. The move also includes an option on further space at the Cobalt 9B building.