Bill Gates Praises ‘Cutting-Edge’ Israeli Flying Robots Startup 

Microsoft founder and tech guru Bill Gates this week highlighted Israeli robotics startup Tevel in his blog GatesNotes. 

In a post titled “The start-ups making robots a reality,” Gates singles out five young cutting-edge companies he says he is excited about, among them Tevel. 

The startup has developed the world’s only flying autonomous robots (FARs) that pick fruit. The robots are fitted with cameras that assess the exact size and color of each piece of fruit, only picking what’s ripe, and provide the farmer with invaluable real-time updates on the progress of the harvest, time to completion, quantity picked and cost.

“For farmers in some rich countries, around 40 percent of costs can come from labor—with workers spending entire days out in the hot sun and then stopping at night,” Gates wrote. 

“But given the labor shortage in agriculture, farms often have to throw away fruit that’s not harvested in time. That’s why Tevel, founded in Tel Aviv, has created flying autonomous robots,” he said.  

The startup is currently picking apples, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums in Israel, Europe and the US. It also has plans to enter the Chinese and Japanese markets and expand its European presence.