Jim Mellon invests in UK’s berry-picking robots
Fieldwork Robotics has announced an investment from SEED Innovations Ltd, the AIM-quoted investing company chaired by prominent British businessman Jim Mellon. The investment forms part of a £2.5 million Seed+ fundraise and combined investment and grant funding announced in April 2026.
Jim Mellon is one of the UK’s most prominent early-stage investors, with a long track record of identifying and backing transformative technology businesses. Through SEED Innovations, which is focused on high-growth robotics and AI ventures, Mellon has been vocal about the opportunity for autonomous systems to address real-world labour and productivity challenges, an ethos that sits at the heart of Fieldwork’s mission.
Berry growers worldwide face rising labour costs, a shortage of available fruit pickers, and supply chain pressures that drive up harvesting wages. These challenges increase food waste, push up consumer prices, and contribute to higher climate emissions. Large volumes of soft fruit are lost due to a shortage of pickers. Fieldwork’s autonomous harvesting robots address these issues directly, reducing reliance on seasonal labour, boosting productivity, and operating efficiently across entire farms, helping growers protect margins and scale production sustainably.
The Seed+ fundraise enables Fieldwork to accelerate farm adoption of its autonomous harvesting technology and transition from the technology validation stage to commercial trials. The Company is currently deploying production robots in a two-year IUK ADOPT programme with Place UK in Norfolk and Littywood Farm in Stafford. Subject to these trials, Fieldwork expects multi-robot fleets to be operating on farms from 2027, with planned international trials in Australia as part of its global expansion strategy.
David Fulton, Fieldwork Robotics CEO commented: “SEED’s support at this stage is vital as we move into this important next chapter for Fieldwork. This fundraise supports the demand for our robotic harvesting capabilities from our grower customers and builds on the significant commercial progress we are making and gives us the platform to accelerate farm adoption of our technology at scale. We are now focused on delivering results, expanding our commercial trials and progressing our international expansion, and we are well positioned to do so with the right investors alongside us.”
Jim Mellon, Non-Executive Chair of SEED, commented: “Fieldwork is a UK company which epitomises how AI and robots can solve a very real-life problem. Up to 30% of soft fruit is lost due to a shortage of pickers, which affects not only growers’ profitability, but also the costs passed on to consumers. Fieldwork’s berry picking robot offers an innovative and scalable solution to this problem. We are delighted to be supporting Fieldwork at this stage of its development and look forward to following its progress as it continues to commercialise and expand internationally.”
For more information:
Fieldwork Robotics Ltd.
Cambridge Innovation Park
Cambridge, CB25 9PB
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 (0) 1223 210 376
info@fieldworkrobotics.com
