Claas has increased its involvement with AgXeed, having participated in the Series A financing round of the Dutch startup. In addition, a first distribution and service cooperation has been initiated with Claas Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (Claas Distribution) based in Herzebrock-Clarholz, Germany.
After the first successful joint projects, Claas is intensifying further cooperation with Dutch startup AgXeed for the development and commercialization of autonomous agricultural machines. To this end, Claas, through its investment company Seed Green Innovations GmbH, has participated in the company’s Series A financing round together with the venture capital investor Amathaon Capital from Munich and a company from the Amazone Group based at Hasbergen-Gaste, Germany. As an investment company within the Claas Group, Seed Green Innovations GmbH supports innovative companies that want to play a key role in shaping the future of agriculture and gives them access to Claas.
The cooperation between Claas and AgXeed was established after the first investment in Spring 2021 and has been continuously expanded since then. With the follow-up investment, Claas secures further access to innovative technologies for autonomous agricultural machines. At the same time, AgXeed benefits from the international network and the expertise of the Claas Group in many areas, from development to sales and service. For example, Claas Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH (CVG) signed a distribution agreement with AgXeed in May. Following this, from Summer 2022 selected Claas dealers in Germany and Switzerland will become distribution and service partners of AgXeed. In addition to the sale of AgBots, rental models will also be available which should make it easier for customers to get started with autonomous agricultural technology and enable extensive testing in their own operating structures. For this purpose, CVG has already included two AgBots in the “First Claas Rental” portfolio.
The Dutch start-up AgXeed offers an intelligent, sustainable and fully autonomous farming system with scalable hardware, virtual planning tools and comprehensive data models, making it one of the leading companies in these areas in Europe today. After the 115kW (154hp) tracked version was presented in 2020, a three-wheeled AgBot for orchards and vineyards followed in 2021, which was recently joined by the four-wheeled AgBot, both of which are 55kW (74hp). All vehicles are diesel-electric. Together with Claas and the other partners Amazone and Amathaon, AgXeed intends to further accelerate the development of efficient and holistic agricultural process solutions in the coming years.
