Philadelphia Startup Burro Raises $24M With Plans To Expand Its Fleet Of Robots And Triple Revenue

Burro raised another $24 million from investors as it looks to grow revenue, hire additional employees and expand its fleet of agricultural robots.

The Philadelphia startup’s Series B round was co-led by New York-based Catalyst Investors and Palo Alto-based Translink Capital and joined by existing investors S2G Ventures, Toyota Ventures, F-Prime Capital and the Cibus Capital LLP. The cash influx brings the company’s total funding to more than $45 million, according to Burro CEO Charlie Anderson.

Burro’s robots are autonomous vehicles that use artificial intelligence to reduce human labor on farms by performing tasks like transporting crops that can’t be picked or packed by machinery. Anderson equated them to the animated Disney character WALL-E in that they can learn to do tasks on their own over time and augment manual labor. The company currently has more than 300 robots, which is calls Burros, in use across four continents. Countries with active units include Peru, Colombia, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to the U.S.

Anderson said he hopes to add another 350 to 500 Burro systems in 2024 and wants Burros to have a presence in Europe by the end of the year. More than doubling the size of its fleet, combined with the monthly fees it charges for its existing robots, would allow the company to triple revenue, Anderson said.

To keep up with the growth, Anderson wants to add at least 20 to 25 employees in the coming year and source much of that talent from the Philadelphia region. Upping Burro’s headcount from 45 currently to as many as 70 could push Burro to increase its space in the city. Anderson said the company is quickly outgrowing its current location, a 5,500-square-foot space on 7th and Willow streets. It also has an office in Visalia, California.

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