Versatile RobotX raises £1M+ to commercialize autonomous harvesting robots

University of Essex spinout Versatile RobotX secured more than £1 million (€1.17M) from the British Design Fund, Innovate UK programs and Defra support. Its systems include an autonomous fruit-and-vegetable picker and a hydroponic robotic harvester that combine AI, machine vision and robotic manipulation. The company plans to move from field trials into commercial deployment and is also pursuing a Robotics-as-a-Service model that could lower adoption barriers for growers.