Ripe Robotics
Ripe Robotics is an Australian agricultural robotics company that builds and operates autonomous fruit-picking robots for apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines, charging growers per bin picked under a Robotics-as-a-Service model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersArdmona, Australia
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ripe Robotics does
Ripe Robotics is an Australian agricultural robotics company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Ardmona, Victoria. It designs and operates autonomous fruit-picking robots capable of harvesting delicate pome and stone fruit — including apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines — with computer-vision-driven ripeness detection and a custom end-effector engineered to handle fruit without bruising. The company has iterated through several hardware generations (Buzz, Clive, and Eve Mk3 through Mk6), indicating an active prototyping and refinement cycle against real orchard conditions.
Rather than selling or leasing machines, Ripe Robotics operates under a Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, charging growers per bin of fruit picked. This shifts capex burden to the operator, lowers adoption friction for small and mid-sized orchards, and allows Ripe to retain operating data and improve fleet performance over time. Its current customer base consists of commercial pilots with named growers including McNab Orchards, Pomona Valley, and Jeftomson, alongside a partnership channel into the US via Western Growers.
The company is venture-backed by Startmate, AfterWork Ventures, Angel Investors Marlborough, and Incubate, with a disclosed seed round of approximately $410,000. Headcount is small (1–10 employees) and the business remains at an early commercial stage. Management has signaled plans to extend the platform from picking into adjacent orchard tasks including thinning, pruning, and spraying, which would multiply per-customer utilization and broaden the addressable market.
Ripe Robotics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ripe Robotics
- Legal name
- Ripe Robotics Pty Ltd
- Website
- https://riperobotics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Ripe Robotics is an Australian agricultural robotics company that builds and operates autonomous fruit-picking robots for apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines, charging growers per bin picked under a Robotics-as-a-Service model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ripe Robotics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Agricultural Robotics / Autonomous Harvesting Services
- NAICS
- Fruit and Tree Nut Farming (1113)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Agricultural Robotics Integration, Retrofit & Automation Services (Kit installs, integration, maintenance) (AFAAAGAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Stone Fruit Orchards (Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, Apricots) (AFAGACAC), Berry Farming (Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Cranberries) (AFAGACAD)
Keywords
Where Ripe Robotics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ardmona
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ripe Robotics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Per-Bin Harvesting Service: Ripe Robotics charges growers by the bin for fruit picked, mirroring the payment model of human fruit pickers. This outcome-based approach aligns incentives - growers pay only for harvested fruit, not for robot ownership or leasing. The company handles all operations including robot deployment, monitoring, and maintenance.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Pay-as-you-go | Per-bin harvesting service |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Ripe Robotics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ripe Robotics designs, builds, and operates autonomous fruit-picking robots that harvest apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines grown on 2D planar or V-trellis orchards. Rather than selling or leasing machines, the company charges growers per bin of fruit picked, mirroring the payment model of human fruit pickers, and handles all robot deployment, operation, and maintenance. Its commercial prototype, Eve, uses AI-powered computer vision to analyze every piece of fruit for size, colour, and quality.
Product overview
Ripe Robotics operates as a robotic fruit-picking service rather than a product seller. The company has developed multiple robot prototypes (Buzz, Clive, and Eve in various iterations from Mk3 to Mk6) to automate the picking of apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines. Rather than selling or leasing machines, Ripe Robotics charges growers by-the-bin for fruit picked, mirroring the payment model of human fruit pickers. The Eve robot, their commercial prototype, incorporates AI computer vision to analyze fruit quality during picking and collects comprehensive data for predictive analytics to improve picking performance over time. Future plans include expanding capabilities to thinning, pruning, spraying, and other agricultural tasks.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Eve — Commercial Prototype Harvesting Robot Commercial prototype autonomous robot that picks apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines grown on 2D planar or V-trellis orchard systems. Equipped with AI-powered computer vision that analyses every piece of fruit for size, colour, and quality in real time. Deployed and operated by Ripe Robotics as part of its per-bin harvesting service for commercial fruit growers.
- Per-Bin Robotic Harvesting Service Outcome-based robotic harvesting service in which Ripe Robotics owns, deploys, operates, and maintains its fruit-picking robots at commercial orchards. Growers specify where, when, and how much fruit to pick; Ripe handles all operational aspects and charges per bin of fruit harvested. Available to commercial apple, plum, peach, and nectarine growers in trial partner arrangements.
Quantifiable outcome
- Growers need only tell Ripe where, when, and how much fruit to pick - Ripe handles all operational aspects
Companies that use Ripe Robotics
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ripe Robotics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature3 records
Ripe Robotics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Western GrowerscoreWestern Growers selected Ripe Robotics as one of 13 companies for harvest automation. Walt Dulfock from Western Growers has publicly stated the industry needs to transition to robotic harvesting within five years for U.S. operations to remain sustainable.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Ripe Robotics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- FFRobotics: Israel-based developer of multi-armed apple and stone-fruit picking robots. Direct competitor targeting the same commercial orchard harvesting use case with similar AI-driven picking systems.
- Advanced Farm Technologies: US-based developer of robotic strawberry and apple pickers that, like Ripe, applies AI/computer vision to autonomous fruit harvesting. Direct competitor for the same commercial orchard customer base.
- Tevel Aerobotics Technologies: Israel-based company building autonomous flying fruit-picking robots for apples, stone fruit and other orchard crops. Closely comparable technology, target crop set, and harvesting-as-a-service value proposition.
- Abundant Robotics: US-based company (with apple-picking robots acquired by Wada Farms) that developed vacuum-based autonomous apple harvesting robots. Comparable AI + robotics approach for the same apple grower market.
Emerging players
- MetoMotion: Israel/Europe-based developer of GRoW, a multipurpose greenhouse robotics platform for harvesting and labour tasks. Comparable deep-tech ag robotics with AI vision, focused on protected cropping rather than open orchard.
- Octinion (Rubion): Belgium-based developer of Rubion, an autonomous strawberry-picking robot. Comparable agricultural robotics technology targeting fresh fruit harvesting use cases.
- Tortuga AgTech: US-based agricultural robotics company building autonomous harvesting and crop-care robots for high-value crops. Comparable robotics-as-a-service business model targeting labour-constrained horticulture.
- Dogtooth Technologies: UK-based developer of autonomous strawberry-picking robots. Comparable deep-tech ag robotics for fresh fruit harvesting with similar RaaS-style commercial models, though focused on berries rather than tree fruit.
- Agrobot: Spain-based company building AI-powered strawberry harvesting robots. Comparable AI-driven fruit picking approach serving commercial berry growers.
Regional players
- Robotics Plus: New Zealand-based agricultural robotics company developing autonomous orchard vehicles and crop analytics. Comparable orchard robotics technology and close geographic proximity (Australasia) but serves kiwifruit and other crops.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ripe Robotics social profiles
Digital presenceRipe Robotics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ripe Robotics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Ripe Robotics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ripe Robotics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ripe Robotics
What does Ripe Robotics do?
Ripe Robotics designs, builds, and operates autonomous fruit-picking robots that harvest apples, plums, peaches, and nectarines grown on 2D planar or V-trellis orchards. Rather than selling or leasing machines, the company charges growers per bin of fruit picked, mirroring the payment model of human fruit pickers, and handles all robot deployment, operation, and maintenance. Its commercial prototype, Eve, uses AI-powered computer vision to analyze every piece of fruit for size, colour, and quality.
Is Ripe Robotics a public or private company?
Ripe Robotics is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Ripe Robotics founded?
Ripe Robotics was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Ripe Robotics based?
Ripe Robotics is headquartered in Ardmona, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Ripe Robotics make money?
One revenue line is on record: per-Bin Harvesting Service.
Who are Ripe Robotics's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are FFRobotics, Advanced Farm Technologies, Tevel Aerobotics Technologies and Abundant Robotics. Emerging players are MetoMotion, Octinion (Rubion), Tortuga AgTech, Dogtooth Technologies and Agrobot. Robotics Plus is listed as a regional player.
Does Ripe Robotics have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ripe Robotics.
What industry is Ripe Robotics in?
Ripe Robotics's product category is Agricultural Robotics / Autonomous Harvesting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAAAGAJ, Agricultural Robotics Integration, Retrofit & Automation Services (Kit installs, integration, maintenance), with a secondary code of AFAGACAC, Stone Fruit Orchards (Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, Apricots). Its NAICS code is 1113.