Automated robotic mowing poised for growth

Love it or hate it, lawn maintenance is a significant segment of the market. But it’s never easy money: Margins are tight, competition is stiff and employees are hard to keep. “When I owned a sod installation company, I never wanted to do maintenance,” says Nick Sagnella, co-founder of HomeVP in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s typically resource-intensive, and you don’t make money unless you’re operating on a large scale.”

After Sagnella sold his company, he and a business partner began to look at other service industry options. “We wanted to harness technology to service homeowners better,” Sagnella says. “We narrowed it to the landscaping sector, and automated mowing seemed to be ripe.” Their company began installing robotic mowers for residential properties in the Charlotte area in June 2017 with several dozen in service to date.

With just a handful of robotic mowing companies currently in operation across the country, the industry is poised for growth. Interestingly, these mowers have been popular in Europe for decades. But growing interest in the environment, and the techno-geeky coolness factor of a little robot driving across the lawn are spurring interest in the U.S. now, says Sagnella.

Read the full story from the October issue here.