Sabanto received a major boost in its effort to accelerate adoption of its autonomous retrofit technology, closing an oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Leaps by Bayer with participation from Sustainable Forward Capital, InnoVenture Iowa, Fulcrum Global Capital, DCVC and Yara.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment represents a major step forward in bringing practical autonomy to more farms,\u201d says Craig Rupp, CEO and founder of Sabanto. \u201cWe believe the workhorse of the future is smaller equipment. Our retrofit approach allows farmers to shift labor toward higher-value tasks, increase operating hours, and ultimately focus on growing their business and their bottom line. We\u2019re seeing too many farms fold under economic pressure and our solution levels the playing field.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Overall, the investment intends to support the following for Sabanto:<\/p>\n
Expanded commercialization and dealer network growth
\nIncreased retrofit kit production and deployment
\nContinued software and autonomy platform development
\nExpanded customer support and field operations
\nAccelerated adoption within the row crop market
\nInside the Investment<\/p>\n
As the strategic investment unit of Bayer, Leaps has invested over $2.1 billion in more than 65 companies innovating emerging technologies in agriculture and health.<\/p>\n
Paimun Amini, VP of agriculture venture investments at Leaps by Bayer, says Sabanto\u2019s retrofit model stands out from the competition by offering a scalable and practical pathway to autonomy, especially in today\u2019s challenging farm economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this technology offers options that can reshape how labor and equipment are utilized in row crop farming and beyond while also supporting more sustainable farming practices,\u201d says Amini, who prioritizes team and technology when evaluating potential companies to invest in. \u201cWhen we ran the unit economic check with farmers on what it would take to implement a retrofit system and move to an autonomous operation, there wasn\u2019t a single instance where the math didn\u2019t ink out in their favor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe second element was the Sabanto team,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe know Craig Rupp from his days with 640 Labs. Knowing his team and the number of technological advancements they\u2019ve made in the past, it was an easy decision to support them.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Leaps has some experience in the autonomy space, but primarily with drone companies like American Autonomy. Through Monsanto Growth Ventures, the company also invested in Blue River before it was acquired by John Deere. The new investment in Sabanto will help open doors for the company to expand its customer base across North America and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two elements of what we do well at Bayer \u2014 one is developing products and the other is helping products go to market,\u201d Amini says. \u201cSabanto has hundreds of devices deployed already. Now, they\u2019re looking at market expansion, not just in the U.S., but in places like Brazil, where I\u2019m currently meeting with a bunch of our leading agri-dealers. It\u2019s really all about opening those networks for Sabanto to expand commercial operations to broader markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabanto currently has 11 dealers in California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Texas, and an additional 18 dealers in Australia<\/a>. The company aims to expand its dealer footprint over the next 12 months and help more dealers deploy and sell the technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Proving Autonomy Works<\/p>\n Rupp says the investment from Leaps validates the direction Sabanto is headed and adds credibility to its product, marking a shift from asking \u201cif\u201d autonomy will work in agriculture to asking \u201cwhen\u201d it will be widely available.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the early days of the company, there were a lot of doubts about whether this was a credible technology,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cBut as time went on, we proved it could work, and the very first thing we did, at minimum, was get a viable product in the farmer\u2019s hands. They knew it needed some improvements and that it was only going to get better. Over the last couple years, we\u2019ve been adding features and making those improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabanto\u2019s retrofit kits have been commercially available for almost 3 years. \u201cWe went from zero systems out in the market to between 200-300 systems now,\u201d Rupp says. The kits transform tractors into fully autonomous machines, with a cloud-connected communications system, multiple GNSS receivers, obstacle-detecting sensors, video cameras and an onboard AI processing unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sabanto targeted the sod industry when it first went to market, but with a team rooted in Iowa and Illinois, its core focus has always been row crops, particularly corn and soybeans.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m starting to see autonomous operations scale more rapidly, and there\u2019s been more widespread acceptance of the technology,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cFarmers understand this is the future and that companies are working towards it. And a lot of them even believe there will be a day when they have an autonomous tractor operating on their farm. With each system we deploy, we\u2019re getting closer and closer to that.\u201d<\/p>\n All in on Autonomy<\/p>\n Rupp’s vision became a reality on Quint Pottinger\u2019s farm near New Haven, Ky., in 2026. The eighth-generation farmer used the Sabanto retrofit kit to autonomously seed and plant all his crops.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody seems to be saying autonomous planting is 5-10 years away,\u201d Pottinger says. \u201cWe looked at it and said, \u2018All the pieces are there. Let\u2019s put it together and do it now to save some money.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Pottinger pushed all his chips in, selling his two big-frame 8000-series John Deere tractors and two 40-foot 16-row planters and replacing them with a small 135-horsepower John Deere tractor and a 20-foot 8-row planter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the defining moment,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cQuint realized he had too much capital on his books and that money was sitting every year depreciating and he could use it for something other than equipment. He could use it for cattle, and that\u2019s exactly what he did. He\u2019s buying cattle with that extra cash.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started Sabanto, I looked at autonomy as something that could solve the labor problem,\u201d Rupp adds. \u201cBut I also looked at it form a different point of view in that it\u2019s going to fundamentally change the way field operations are performed. And it all came down to replacing capital expense with more hours. We\u2019ve peaked in horsepower and now we\u2019re going to move in the other direction because of autonomy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Equipped with Sabanto, Precision Planting\u2019s Panorama and Starlink, Pottinger became the first farmer in the Bluegrass State to plant his entire crop with a driverless tractor, joining fewer than 50 farms nationwide, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the first farm globally to do it at the farm level without being a research or company project,\u201d Pottinger says. \u201cWe received no assistance and paid full retail price for our new equipment without having to go in debt.\u201d<\/p>\n Pottinger spent about $200,000 total on the small tractor, planter and autonomy kit, significantly less than his old equipment setup, which came with a price tag of $750,000.<\/p>\n Last fall, Pottinger autonomously seeded his winter crops \u2014 wheat, rye and barley \u2014 for the first time. \u201cI think a lot of people saw us do it in the fall and said, \u2018Great, it works in grains but doing it in a row crop is different.\u2019\u201d He proved skeptics wrong this spring, autonomously planting corn across 850 acres, many of which were no-tilled green into thick cereal rye.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had trouble getting seed depth at 3.5 mph, changed the gear and stuck it at 2.8,\u201d Pottinger says. \u201cIt took an hour and a half longer to do the field, but it didn\u2019t matter because it planted all night and got the job done. We had great seed depth and now we have a great no-till corn stand.\u201d<\/p>\n Smaller & Slower<\/p>\n While many operations seem to be going bigger and faster with equipment, Pottinger is going in the opposite direction with autonomy \u2014 smaller and slower. And so far, it\u2019s working, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cSpend the money so you can plant faster, till faster and get the crop in quickly \u2014 that\u2019s the message coming from equipment manufacturers,\u201d Pottinger says. \u201cTheir point is, don\u2019t have two 40-foot planters, have one 40-foot planter that you can run 10 mph. We took a different approach. Instead of planting at 5 mph, we\u2019re planting at 3.5 mph and that sucker is running up to 20 hours a day. We\u2019re getting good seed placement and better crop stands than we could\u2019ve hoped for, especially in no-till.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was in New Haven a couple weeks ago and of course Quint was the talk of the town,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cHe\u2019s a trendsetter and marches to the beat of a different drum. But I think what\u2019s more important is the bankers are taking notice. And when bankers take notice, the conversation has changed from technology to the economics of autonomy. And when I read that article about Quint<\/a>, I was thinking, \u2018Yes, it\u2019s happening.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pottinger says if autonomy can work on his irregular fields, shaped by creeks, rivers and hillsides, it can work anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd with the ag economy the way it is, farmers are looking for new ways to cut costs and that\u2019s important to keep these mid-south farms alive,\u201d Pottinger says. \u201cWhen you go smaller and you slow down, you start to look at other things you can change on your farm.\u201d<\/p>\n Making Farming Possible<\/p>\n Many farmers have followed in Pottinger\u2019s footsteps outside of the Corn Belt in states like Kansas, Montana and Oklahoma, to name a few.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of our customers have told me, \u2018I wouldn\u2019t be farming this year if it wasn\u2019t for you guys.\u2019 Obviously, everyone knows the economics of farming is in poor shape right now,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cIt all comes down to if you want to keep farming, you must do one of two things. You must make more money or save money. And making money is exceedingly difficult right now. So, saving money is where a lot of farmers are heading.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabanto\u2019s retrofit kits are currently compatible with about 24 different tractor models, but the company is working to add more models to the list.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re brand agnostic. I don\u2019t care if your tractor\u2019s green, red, yellow, orange, it doesn\u2019t matter to us. I\u2019m trying to leverage the equipment that\u2019s already in the industry. We\u2019ve always said that your next generation tractor is already sitting in your machine shed.\u201d<\/p>\n To help continue making strides, Rupp put together an advisory board consisting of about 24 farmers. They meet with COO Cory Spaetti monthly. Spaetti fills them in on the latest developments with Sabanto.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they do is provide feedback to him,\u201d Rupp says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s only Cory. I\u2019m not in it. No sales. No marketing. These farmers really lead our product portfolio and help us make improvements. We don\u2019t have customers, we have accomplices, and these farmers are an example of that. We\u2019re completely transparent and show them the good, the bad and the ugly.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n