$7.5 million seed funding helps Upside Robotics plant the seeds for success

A fresh injection of $7.5 million USD seed funding is propelling Upside Robotics into its next phase of growth, giving the Velocity‑based startup momentum to deepen its partnerships with farmers and agricultural companies across Canada. 

Co‑founders Sam Dugan (BASc ’22) and Jana Tian launched Upside Robotics to transform agriculture through sustainable automation. Their remote‑management, AI-enabled, lightweight autonomous robots apply fertilizer precisely where crops need it empowering farmers to monitor their fields, track crop health and deliver nutrients with unprecedented efficiency all without farmers stepping foot on the soil. 

“Trust in robotics is earned in the field, not the lab,” Dugan says.  “We built the system side by side with farmers, season by season. Today, that work has translated into more than 10,000 autonomous kilometers driven and over 100,000 liters of fertilizer applied across more than 1,300 acres.”

The $7.5 million USD seed round led by Plural, with participation from Garage Capital, Entrepreneurs First and the founders of Clearpath Robotics brings the company’s total funding to more than $11 million USD.

In Upside Robotics’ demonstration videos, small autonomous robots glide between rows of crops, precisely delivering nutrients directly to root zones. This targeted approach reduces waste, cuts costs and helps farmers maintain healthier soils a powerful combination for producers adapting to climate pressures. 

Upside Robotics is one of several agri‑tech innovators growing within Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s flagship incubator. Velocity provides founders with mentorship, funding opportunities and access to Canada’s largest tech‑corridor network. Since 2008, the incubator has helped more than 500 startups launch, collectively generating over $40 billion in enterprise value. 

For Dugan, this new funding marks just the beginning.

“Our vision is a world where farmers can effortlessly manage their operations remotely with continuous analytics and actionable insights while contributing positively to the environment,” Dugan explains. “We want to align farm profitability with climate goals through innovation in precision agriculture.” 

With this fresh capital, Upside Robotics is ready to keep building the future of farming one robot at a time.