Upside Robotics raises $7.5M to automate fertilizer delivery

Upside Robotics, a Waterloo, Ontario-based agricultural technology startup, has secured $7.5 million in a seed round—an early-stage funding round—to scale its self-operating machines. The investment was led by venture capital firm Plural, with participation from Garage Capital and the founders of Clearpath Robotics. The company was formally founded in 2024 after co-founders Jana Tian and Sam Dugan met at the Entrepreneurs First accelerator in 2023. Tian previously worked at Unilever, while Dugan brought a background in building robotics. Together, they developed lightweight solar-powered autonomous robots designed to deliver fertilizer and nutrients directly to crops.

The startup’s software uses proprietary algorithms to determine precise fertilizer needs based on weather and soil data. This targeted approach addresses a major inefficiency in traditional farming. According to co-founder and CEO Jana Tian, “Traditionally, the way the fertilizer has been applied, only 30% of the total fertilizer gets taken by the crop, so a majority of it gets wasted.” By delivering right-sized amounts of nutrients when plants need them, Upside Robotics reported that it has helped its customers reduce fertilizer use by 70%. This reduction translates to savings of around $150 per acre per season for growers.

To build and refine the technology, the founders spent the 2024 season living in a camper trailer to run manual tests directly in corn fields. This hands-on iteration allowed them to learn directly from farmers and scale operations from serving 70 acres in 2024 to 1,200 acres in 2025. For the upcoming 2026 season, Upside Robotics plans to serve more than 3,000 acres. To support this expansion and meet the demand of more than 200 farms currently on its waitlist, the company will use the new capital for research and development. Looking beyond its current footprint in Canada, the startup also hopes to expand its operations into the U.S. corn belt.

Why it matters

Upside Robotics is scaling its autonomous fertilizer-delivery robot operations, having secured $7.5 million in seed funding to meet demand from more than 200 farms on its waitlist. By reducing fertilizer waste and lowering costs for farmers, the company demonstrates how targeted automation can address both agricultural inefficiencies and operating margins.