Kubota Corporation (Head Office: Naniwa-ku, Osaka, Japan; President and Representative Director: Yuichi Kitao; hereinafter, “Kubota”) and Aurea Imaging, a Dutch start-up developing “crop Intelligence” products (hereinafter, “Aurea”), announced a year-long strategic partnership, under which the two companies will demonstrate the feasibility of autonomous orchard and vineyard farming systems that combine Kubota’s machine technology with Aurea’s crop intelligence technology.

1.Background and outline of the partnership

• In June 2019, Kubota launched an Innovation Center as a division for the pursuit of open innovation based on coordination with external partners. To better cater to the unique needs of each geographic region, an Innovation Center is now located in Japan and the Netherlands.
• Fruit growing is one area of farming that offers enormous growth potential as it has yet to be fully mechanized. So far, Kubota has decided to invest in three start-ups (all in the U.S.) with advanced technologies for growing fruit.
• Aurea is a start-up based in the Netherlands. By combining data gathered by drones and IoT sensors with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, this crop intelligence specialist offers such solutions as yield prediction and soil mapping for fruit growers. With a wealth of experience in drone mapping services, Aurea has built a global network for data collection by drones.
• Kubota and Aurea have decided to conduct a year-long joint demonstration to further advance Aurea’s services. Aurea’s advanced sensing technology and Kubota’s farming machinery for fruit farms complement each other and, by integrating the two, Kubota and Aurea will verify the feasibility of autonomous orchard and vineyard farming systems in Europe. Through this partnership, Kubota aims to offer comprehensive solutions in the fruit growing business, one of its focus areas, in the future.

2.About Aurea Imaging

Name	Aurea Imaging
Establishment	2014
Location	Utrecht、Netherland
Business	By Combining data gathered by drones and IoT sensors with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, offering such solutions as yield prediction and soil mapping for fruit growers.

【For reference】

Name	FarmX, Inc.
Establishment	November 2014
Location	California, the U.S.
Business	All-in-one platform to manage and automate irrigation, minimize crop stress and maximize yield

Name	Advanced Farm Technologies, Inc.
Establishment	2018
Location	California, the U.S.
Line of business	Development of automated strawberry harvesting robots, contract harvesting services

Name	Abundant Robotics, Inc.
Establishment	2016
Location	California, the U.S.
Business	Development of automated apple harvesting robots and contract harvesting services

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