Saga Robotics, the Oslo-based company behind the Thorvald autonomous farming platform, has secured $11.2M (~€9.5M) in equity funding to accelerate its commercial expansion in the UK and US.
The round was completed in two tranches, with existing investors including Aker, Nysnø Climate Investments, Blystad, Hatteland, Melesio, Sanden, and MP Pensjon, alongside new investor Praesidium Agri-FoodTech.
From prototype to commercial scale
Founded in 2016 out of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Saga Robotics developed Thorvald to tackle labour shortages, sustainability challenges, and yield security in specialty crops.
Thorvald delivers autonomous services such as UV-C disease control, yield prediction, precision data collection, and repetitive field tasks — operating in greenhouses, tunnels, orchards, and vineyards. Over 150 Thorvald 3.0 units are already in use during the 2025 growing season.
Board Chair Dorn Wenninger said:
“Our strong commercial performance enabled us to close this round in a tough capital market. The mix of long-time backers and new strategic investors shows confidence in both our core business and growth pipeline.”
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Expanding market footprint
- In the UK, Thorvald supports 13 strawberry growers, treating about 20% of the national market, with a target of over 30% by 2026.
- In the US, Thorvald operates across 1,300 acres of vineyards and is part of California’s CORE incentive programme for sustainable agtech.
CEO Sacha de La Noë noted the company is entering “a new phase focused on scale and impact,” while co-founder Pål Johan From, now leading US operations from California, emphasized the goal of reducing chemical use and labour costs through robotics.
