Seederal, the Brittany, France-based agriculture startup, announced last month that it had raised €11 million to accelerate the development of its first electric tractor. Part of that total came from a new fundraising round of €7.1 million led by Supernova Invest with support from Ankaa Ventures, Unilis (Groupe Unigrains), Crédit Agricole’s Morbihan Expansion, Kima Ventures, and earlier partners Xplore by Épopée Gestion and Breizh Up. In parallel with the fundraising, the startup was selected for the France 2030 program, receiving a grant of €3.7 million.

“Seederal has chosen a complete overhaul of the architecture with an innovative design based on an integrated chassis-battery system, similar to that adopted by Tesla, disruptive approach to achieve optimal energy density in the battery system,” said Romain Sautrau, Investment Director at Supernova Invest.

With initial fundraising in 2022, as well as support from Bpifrance, the Brittany Region, and the Regional Bank CA Finistère, Seederal released its first electric tractor prototype in February. Following the success of the first field tests, the company aims with the new round of funding to finance the continuation of the R&D efforts and consolidate teams to establish its position as a pioneer in the decarbonization of agricultural machinery.

“The support we obtained through the France 2030 program and the involvement of renowned new investors at the sides of our historical investors are strong markers underlining the relevance of our approach,” said Antoine Venet, CEO and Co-founder of Seederal. “We have recently reached a milestone by demonstrating that our first prototype presents with the necessary power for the most demanding applications, and this round of funding will allow us to reach the next level: confirming the great autonomy of our tractors for field applications.”

Seederal says its innovation is a major step towards carbon-free and “economically virtuous machinery,” as the debate on the agricultural electrification transition is crystallized by the rise in agricultural fuel prices and the lack of alternatives for farmers. Founded by engineers Venet and CTO/CVO Arthur Rivoal, the company’s workforce comprises 12 experts from tractor manufacturers and leading automotive electrification manufacturers.

With €11 million of secured funding, Seederal’s workforce is expected to continue to grow in the company’s two geographic regions: Brest for mechanical and battery expertise, and Rennes for system expertise. The company will significantly reinforce its team over the next 18 months and accelerate its technological development and enter its industrialization phase. The new funding will enable Seederal to engage in the next phase of development for its innovations—the heart of which is its chassis-battery system.

 

Core segment focus

Seederal says that investors are enthusiastically supporting the common vision of decarbonized agriculture.

“The tractor is central because it mechanizes all stages of the crop cycle: preparation, sowing, protection, fertilization, and harvesting,” said Rivoal. “It is an essential tool for energy and food security. The support of financial partners, especially specialists in the agricultural sector, as well as from the France 2030 program, demonstrate the importance of providing a decarbonized solution at scale. We are the first to develop the technical building blocks to do so.”

The company is addressing a core segment of agricultural machinery for maximum impact. While other electrification projects target low-power tractors (up to 100 hp/75 kW) without any major technological breakthrough, according to Seederal, its focus is on the core segment of agricultural machinery—medium-power tractors (between 100 and 200 hp/149 kW)—that is strong in Europe due to machine versatility. With over €9 billion in sales per year, it represents more than half of the tractors sold there.

The transition challenge is significant, according to the company, as the entire market of agricultural machinery represents 2% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions and 3% of energy consumption in France. Seederal believes it is positioned as a key player in reducing these emissions by offering electric tractors that reduce the carbon footprint by 15 to 20 tons per unit per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 17 cars.

 

Product roadmap to 2026 launch

In February, the startup unveiled its first prototype at the launch of its testing campaign, just one year after announcing its first fundraising. The technological demonstrator will allow it to accelerate the development of the first long-range electric tractor.

The goal is to develop the company’s first product, a 100% electric mid-power (around 160 hp/120 kW) tractor with a range allowing a full day’s work. Design targets are a working autonomy of 8-12 h and a cooldown time for 0-100% max power of 2 h.

At the end of summer 2023, the assembly of the first prototype in western France was the first inkling of its desire to bring its project to an industrial scale in Brittany. The prototype began operating in the fall, then was finely tuned. Contrary to initial expectations, the tractor is lighter than an ICE version. The culmination of these developments paves the way for an intensive testing campaign—on the Breton fields for the start of the 2024 agricultural season—to optimize the final design of the tractor.

However, “this prototype marks a major step towards the realization of Seederal’s mission: to bring new energy to accelerate the agricultural transition,” said Venet. “Farmers, some of whom are early investors in the company, are convinced that our solution will help improve the efficiency of their practices, and above all reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.”

While the final product is to come, the prototype presented some key features to demonstrate the relevance of the company’s technological positioning.

“To our knowledge, this is the first agricultural tractor without a gearbox,” said Rivoal. “And yet, since the historical appearance of these machines, every tractor is designed and built around this component. It is therefore a historic tractor.”

Dispensing with that key component is said to be thanks to the performance of Seederal’s electric motors and its carefully designed transmission architecture.

The company expects its final tractor design to be completely different from the current prototype. It will launch iterative prototypes with the goal of unveiling the final design in 2025 and launching the final product in 2026.