Scythe, a Boulder, Colorado-based robotics company, has recently confirmed a $42 million Series B funding round, bringing its total funding to $60 million, as reported by TechCrunch.
Energy Impact Partners led the round, which included new investors such as ArcTern Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and the Alexa Fund.
The company, which did not go mainstream until 2021 with a $13.8 million Series A round, is targeting commercial landscapers with its M.52 robotic mower, designed to tackle the unique challenges of commercial landscaping, such as large-scale commercial properties, steep slopes, and challenging terrain.
Scythe's M.52 Robotic Mower
Co-founder and CEO Jack Morrison tells TechCrunch that Scythe's M.52 robotic mower is specifically designed for commercial landscaping and can mow large-scale commercial properties such as corporate campuses, parks, sports fields, and HOA complexes.
The mower also has a suite of sensors that allow it to operate safely in dynamic environments by detecting and reacting to the presence of people, animals, and other potential obstacles.
It captures property and mower performance data at the same time, which helps landscape contractors improve workflow, identify upsell opportunities, schedule more efficiently, and manage labor costs.
The mower is also designed to withstand the rigors of daily commercial landscape operations such as trailer loading and unloading, moving through densely packed depots, and jumping curbs in parking lots.
The company has already begun delivering the mower to customers in Texas and has expanded into Florida. The new funds will be used partly to fulfill the 7,500 existing M.52 reservations.
The funding will also be used to expand the company's team, with plans to hire dozens more over the next year across engineering disciplines such as computer vision, robotics, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as manufacturing and customer teams.
Alexa Fund's Investment in Scythe
Scythe's CEO, Jack Morrison, stated that the company was able to find like-minded investors who were actively looking for investment opportunities that address the escalating climate crisis despite the difficult fundraising climate.
He also stated that the company is eager to expand its team in the coming years and that they currently have a number of positions open.
The Alexa Fund's investment in Scythe is especially intriguing because Amazon frequently uses these investments to integrate its voice assistant into third-party technology. The company, however, has stated that it "has nothing to share regarding future plans for integrating voice controls into M.52."
More About Scythe
The company highlights in a blog post how Scythe's unique pay-as-you-mow pricing model aligns the business with landscape contractors' goals to reduce mowing costs and increase uptime.
It also offers a transition to electric equipment easy on cash flow. The company also emphasizes that landscape businesses typically purchase electric equipment outright, costing three to four times as much as conventional gas-powered mowers.
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