Field-Resident Robot 'Syn-Robot' Completes Initial Funding Round

SYN-ROBOTICS (Headquarters: Miyota Town, Nagano Prefecture; Representative Director & COO: Tomoyuki Yanagimoto), is a company developing AI agricultural robots designed to reside in fields for open-field cultivation.

On April 28, 2026, the company announced the completion of its initial funding round following the company's establishment.

The funds raised in this round will be used for business development for the next funding round.

The project continues to proceed under an industry-academia collaboration framework with Takuya Otani's Laboratory at Shibaura Institute of Technology, Hitoshi Takanishi's Laboratory at Waseda University, and IXI Co., Ltd., maintaining the collaboration started during research and development at Sustenergy Inc.

■ Investor Comments
Hiroyuki Takahagi, Representative Partner, OASIS FUND
'I found weeding around my house difficult. Farmers are doing that over hundreds and thousands of times the area. And in the summer, too. Extremely hot days have increased about 3.9 times in the last 100 years, and I felt it was reaching the limit of what humans can do. That's why when I heard the idea of a robot that stays in the field, I thought this is it. The team has been tackling this challenge for seven years since 2019 and has already been conducting field trials with multiple farmers. Before I knew it, I was working with them. I'm rooting for you!'

Kouhiko Tanaka, Representative Director, Syn-aholic Co., Ltd.
'We have decided to invest in SYN-ROBOTICS. The development of AI agricultural robots by SYN-ROBOTICS is a challenge to implement new solutions using technology for problems such as labor shortages and work burden at agricultural sites. I believe that the value of technology is demonstrated only when it captures site issues, is implemented, and becomes a system that continues to be used. I sympathized with SYN-ROBOTICS' technical capabilities and their stance of trying to change the future of the primary industry, which led to this investment decision. As a shareholder, I will support the company's challenge.'

■ Management Comments
Representative Director & COO Tomoyuki Yanagimoto
'We have received support for our business growth from OASIS FUND and Syn-aholic Co., Ltd. I feel very reassured by the tremendous advice and introductions we have already received from both parties, beyond just funding. SYN-ROBOTICS is working on development every day under the vision of changing the future of agriculture through the power of AI and robotics. We will use this support to strongly promote technical development and business growth.'

Director & CTO Masahiro Fujita
'As Director & CTO of SYN-ROBOTICS, I am very happy that we have completed our first funding round and are taking a big step toward the mass production phase of Syn-Robot. At Sony, I was responsible for research and commercialization of AIBO, the world's first fully autonomous home robot, and built an autonomous system architecture that integrates sensing, recognition, judgment, motion generation, and control. Syn-Robot is an area where my experience with AIBO can be directly applied because it aims for fully autonomous operation in off-grid environments, while simultaneously being filled with new technical challenges such as adapting to outdoor environments and manipulation specific to farm work. We will continue to move forward with development and implementation while staying close to the voices of producers in the field.'

Representative Director & CEO Hiroshi Miki
'Through our research and development at Sustenergy, I have become convinced that the use of data and technology in agriculture is becoming an important means to complement the wisdom inherited from our predecessors and the experience and knowledge accumulated by producers in the field, and to pass them on to the next generation. Seven years after starting research and development of agricultural robots in 2019, we became independent as SYN-ROBOTICS in March of this year, and I am happy to report that we have completed our first funding round. It is a truly big step that investors have evaluated our direction of tackling structural issues that producers cannot support on their own. We will continue to take steady steps toward development and social implementation while listening to the voices on the ground.'

■ Development Status
- 2019: Development started under the leadership of Sustenergy Inc.
- 2020: Experiments at solar power plants in Miyagi Prefecture.
- October 2025: Public trial at a lettuce farm in Miyota Town, Nagano Prefecture.