John Deere to Accelerate Autonomous Technology on the Farm with Acquisition of Bear Flag Robotics

Deere & Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million USD. Founded in 2017, the Silicon Valley-based startup develops autonomous driving technology compatible with existing machines. The deal accelerates the development and delivery of automation and autonomy on the farm and supports John Deere's long-term strategy to create smarter machines with advanced technology to support individual customer needs.

Deere first started working with Bear Flag in 2019 as part of the company's Startup Collaborator program, an initiative focused on enhancing work with startup companies whose technology could add value for Deere customers. Since then, Bear Flag has successfully deployed its autonomous solution on a limited number of farms in the U.S. 

The Bear Flag team consists of agriculture professionals, engineers and technologists focused on autonomy, sensor fusion, vision, data, software and hardware.  The company’s mission is to increase global food production, while decreasing the cost of growing food through machine automation. The company makes autonomous technology for agricultural tractors, increasing safety, reliability and profitability on farms.

Bear Flag Robotics will remain in Silicon Valley where they will work closely with Deere to accelerate innovation and autonomy for customers across the world.