Warwickshire's electric weed control firm RootWave raises around £1.25m via crowdfunding
Warwickshire-based electrical weed control pioneer RootWave has raised more than £1.25 million via crowdfuding to advance the business - smashing through its target of £1.05 million.
The Alcester-based company has raised £1,255,060, according to the crowdcube website, and is set to launch next year its first eWeeder - a tractor-powered machine for orchards and vineyards - thanks to private investment complemented by crowdfunding.
READ MORE: Warwickshire electrical weed control firm RootWave to open crowdfunding
RootWave's technology kills weeds using electricity and is replacing chemical herbicides.
The company says electricity can provide better weed control at a lower cost whilst protecting health and the environment, and thus it is saving herbicide, plastic, energy and carbon.
The firm's CEO Andrew Diprose has said: "eWeeding is the only non-chemical method that kills weed and root without disturbing the soil.
"Excitingly for farmers, not only are we seeing it outperform chemical herbicides on control in our trials, with far lower energy use, RootWave will save farmers money too.
"Furthermore, RootWave’s electrical weed control products will prevent the use of 30,000,000,000 litres of herbicide by 2035, as well as 1,500,000 tonnes of plastic, 22,000,000 GJ of energy and allow farmers to sequester 20,000,000 tonnes of carbon," he said.
RootWave said it is now launching a product for the US$3bn orchard and vineyard market and already has £578,000 in reservations, half of its target, including from a global crop protection manufacturer, with which it has a memorandum-of-understanding (MoU) for EU distribution.
Its hand-weeder is designed for the already established US$1bn market treating parks, gardens and invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed.
It generated £560,000 of revenue last year and has seen 38% growth in the first half of 2023 compared to last year, said the company.
Following the launch of the eWeeder for orchards and vineyards, RootWave has its sights set on arable row-crops, a US$68bn market in Europe and North America alone.
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