Catching up with Skyx: Agriculture spraying business ready to disrupt the industry
Thanks to the Skyx (Agricultural-robotics technology company enabling a modular swarm of autonomous drones for spraying) project, the then agri-robotics tech company Skyx Solutions (now LahakX) developed their Precision Agriculture Spraying Swarm (PASS) product. PASS is a self-flying fleet of spraying drones that makes crop protection sustainable, accurate, safe and economical. The solution is optimised according to parameters such as terrain, crop type and pesticide. It is available as a spraying-as-a-service or as a do-it-yourself solution. There is no need for one person to operate a single drone that sprays over an entire area of farmland. The group of drones operates during all kinds of weather conditions and across difficult terrain, including trees, antennas, electric wires and fences. Gone are the traditional methods for spraying using machines. There is much less exposure to dangerous chemicals. What is more, PASS can spray at night, too. With a complete, sustainable and ready-to-go agriculture spraying solution, the project partners decided to focus on the market in the US. But first, regulatory approvals were needed by the US government. They applied for and received a license from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry out aerial spraying with drones. “This is a big deal,” states Eylon Sorek, LahakX co-founder and CEO. They also obtained the FAA license for swarm spraying drones and a Californian state license to apply chemicals. “This is another big deal.” In February 2022, Skyx Solutions took a major step in realising its vision. The start-up received new capital from both existing and new investors to boost its technology and business. The injection of capital was also the ideal opportunity for Skyx Solutions to rebrand to LahakX. “We thank our investors, and are excited to have stronger resources so we can move faster to market,” comments Sorek. “We are committed to working out all of the technological, commercial and regulatory barriers, to provide to our customers cutting-edge spraying solutions which will enable them to save time, chemical and labour costs.” The EU funding contributed to developing the swarming and spot-spraying deep technology. In addition, it helped to develop the go-to-market strategy.
Keywords
Skyx, drone, spraying, agriculture spraying, farmer, agriculture, precision agriculture, crop, farm