An Israeli company with operations in Sacramento has raised $80 million in funding to expand its sales of solar-powered, robotic honeybee enclosures that protect bees from pests and temperature using software and artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2018, Beewise Technologies developed the Beehome, an autonomous container that holds 24 beehives, which it protects from pests and parasites while maintaining climate control and humidity.
"We are the only company on the planet that is deploying precision robotics in tandem with the world's most innovative technologies including artificial intelligence and computer vision in order to save the bees," Beewise CEO Saar Safra said in a news release.
The new funding round was led by New York-based venture capital firm Insight Partners, with participation from Fortissimo Capital of Israel, Palo Alto-based Corner Ventures and others. Beewise has now raised over $120 million in funding.
“Our entire global food supply is being threatened by a devastating collapse of the world's honeybee population. Beewise impressed us as the only solution addressing every complex issue that is contributing to the collapse," said Daniel Aronovitz, principal at Insight Partners, in a news release. "Not only have we funded a company with a fantastic business model; it also addresses one of the biggest challenges our planet is facing.”
Most Beewise employees are in Israel, but the company has about 10 people in Sacramento and Northern California working remotely, said Kristen Hoff, spokeswoman for Beewise, via email.
The “Sacramento area is a key location for Beewise,” she said, adding that the company has many active Beehomes in the region.
California agriculture depends on bees to pollinate many of its high-value crops, including almonds, pistachios, blueberries, apples, cherries and stone fruit, said Ashish Malik, CEO of Ontario, Canada-based Bee Vectoring Technologies International Inc. Malik is based in Sacramento.
“No matter where you develop your technology, if you are working with bees, you end up in California,” Malik said. He wasn’t familiar with Beewise, but he said the company’s technology looks intriguing. Bee Vectoring uses bees to distribute protective biological pest controls to plants.
The Beewise Beehome protects bees from wasps and mites, and it also can feed them during times when forage isn’t available, according to the company. The Beehome also can harvest honey from boxes and it can send alerts when human intervention is necessary at the hive or Beehome.
Beewise says its boxes reduce bee mortality by 80%.
