Scythe Robotics receives $18.6M in funding

Scythe Robotics (Scythe), the creator of commercial-grade autonomous robotic solutions for the landscaping industry, announced its first offering: an all-electric, fully autonomous mower, designed completely in-house.

 Scythe also announced its $13.8M in Series A funding led by Inspired Capital with participation from existing investors True Ventures, Zigg Capital and Lemnos, bringing the company’s total funding to $18.6M. The new investment will be used to grow the company’s existing operations in Texas, Florida and Colorado, expand with new customers, and accelerate development of further products for use by commercial landscape contractors.

Founded in 2018 by Jack Morrison, Isaac Roberts and Davis Foster, distribution of the mowers is scheduled for Fall of 2022

“To date, commercial landscape contractors haven’t had a technology partner who enables them to keep up with demand and to operate emissions-free. We are that partner,” said Jack Morrison, co-founder and CEO of Scythe. “Our autonomous mower gives them the ability to grow their business, while staying green. It’s designed from the ground up to be an order of magnitude more reliable, more productive and safer than any existing machine by incorporating state of the art autonomy with a rugged, all-electric design.”

 The machine features eight HDR cameras and a suite of other sensors that enable it to operate safely in dynamic environments by identifying and responding to the presence of humans, animals and other potential obstacles. Simultaneously, the machine captures valuable property and mower performance data, which helps landscape contractors improve workflow, identify upsell opportunities, schedule more efficiently and manage labor costs.

 Scythe’s Robot as a Service (RaaS) model aligns Scythe with its customers: instead of buying machines outright, customers are billed by acres mowed. This reduces contractors’ expenses and eliminates the cost of equipment maintenance and downtime.

"By billing per acre mowed, our customers are able to more accurately predict their maintenance costs for properties and acquire machines at low or zero upfront cost, while Scythe has the benefit of a steady recurring revenue stream and the ability to upgrade machines in the field without being forced to support legacy machines,” Morrison said.

Ivan Giraldo, co-founder and president of Austin-based Clean Scapes, one of  the  largest landscape companies in North America, said, “I have been actively looking for solutions that will support our frontline employees and increase the efficiency of our operations, and Scythe’s product will do just that. I’ve been open with employees about the opportunity autonomous mowers will bring: to get them off the mowers and onto higher value landscaping work, enabling us to take on many new contracts.”