The climate in the venture capital market is gloomy and so Ecorobotix’s financing round of CHF 46 million last week caused quite a stir. We asked Ecorobotix CEO Simon Aspinall, and Lukas Reinhardt and Philippe Schlegel from UBS Growth Advisory, who have accompanied the company for several years and played an important role in the financing, how the success came about.
The key figures of Ecorobotix’s financing round are exceptional today: CHF 46 million was invested, two new, well-known lead investors were attracted and the valuation was higher than that of the previous round. “The investors were convinced by the combination of rapid growth and sustainability,” says Ecorobotix CEO Simon Aspinall, explaining the key success factors.
The company, headquartered in Yverdon-les-Bains, manufactures an innovative AI sprayer called ARA that farmers use to control weeds. The system is equipped with cameras and artificial intelligence that identifies each individual plant in the field (both crops and weeds) and treats only the unwanted plants (weeds) without spraying the crops or surrounding soil. “With our sprayer, farmers reduce the amount of chemicals they use by 70-95%. And since the crops are no longer being sprayed, crop yields increase by 5% to 10%,” says Aspinall “we save the farmer a lot of money, help them produce more food – and massively reduce chemicals in the food produced which is better for consumers and the planet”. No wonder farmers in 15 European countries are already using the ARA sprayer from the Yverdon based company. Ecorobotix generates revenues by selling the machine and from annual recurring licence fees.
It has taken a lot of hard work and perseverance from the company, which was founded in 2014, to achieve this breakthrough. In retrospect, 2021 turned out to be a decisive year. Until then, the team had been working on a mobile robot prototype that would drive autonomously across fields slowly treating crops. But in 2021 the decision was taken to integrate the innovative technology into a sprayer towed behind tractors. “From 2021, our product had the look and feel of a conventional sprayer, which significantly improved its acceptance by farmers,” recalls Aspinall. The performance was also immensely improved to make the sprayer, ARA, really practical - increasing both speed of operation and quality of treatment.
Long-term relationship with UBS Growth Advisory
The collaboration between Ecorobotix and UBS dates back to 2019, when UBS met the Ecorobotix management for the first time in Lausanne. Since then, they have been in regular contact. “Building a long-term relationship is very important to us,” emphasises Philippe Schlegel from the UBS Growth Advisory Team. “That is the way to really get to know a company”.
In 2022 the business relationship became more concrete. UBS Growth Advisory supported Ecorobotix in obtaining a guarantee from the Technology Fund and subsequently the company received a loan of CHF 3 million backed by the federal guarantee to accelerate growth. In the same year, after an intensive strategy assessment, Ecorobotix was also awarded the prestigious SEF.Growth ‘High Potential’ Label. As a founding partner, UBS is closely associated with the SEF.Growth programme.
In February 2022, the financing round started and has now been successfully completed. “At the time, I expected at most needing nine months to close the funding,” explains Aspinall. It was to take significantly longer, since the deteriorating macroeconomic conditions meant that many VCs had little appetite or capacity for investing in new companies.
However, Aspinall and his team were able to overcome this challenge. “The financing round was oversubscribed, and we were able to raise more money than planned at a better valuation,” says the CEO. “It’s a great reflection on the world-leading technology the team developed and the positive impacts it has for farmers and the planet”
The investors investing through UBS Growth Advisory were also among the backers. Lukas Reinhardt, Head Growth Advisory UBS, lists the reasons that led the bank to introduce Ecorobotix to investors and some of them eventually joining the company as shareholders: “Ecorobotix’ product has a distinct USP and can be clearly considered a deeptech case; it is a technological innovation. The founder and management team are absolutely dedicated, the commercial traction is very strong, and the long-term market growth in AgTech promises a healthy market potential. In addition, there is the sustainability angle, which complements the company’s investment case.”
The investors introduced by UBS do not just bring financial resources, they also contribute expertise. “UBS is very good at bringing industry insiders on board,” says Aspinall. The company also benefited from its participation in the SEF.Growth programme. “Investors today are very selective and require a lot of data for due diligence,” he explains. When setting up the data room, Ecorobotix was able to draw on all the data already collected for SEF.Growth programme assessment.
In future, the agritech company will certainly use more products and services from UBS, as growth is set to continue with the funds from the financing round. The new financing will allow the company to expand geographically across all of Europe and also bring the ARA to the North and South American markets.
More information about UBS Growth Advisory can be found on its website.
The new Swiss Venture Capital Report was published on 26 January. It analyses 304 financing rounds closed in 2020 and includes further article such as an interview with Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board, and a list of Swiss "soonicorns". 
Please login or sign up to comment.
Commenting guidelines