Author: pr-moritz
Last saved by: Roland Birkhoff
Company: Bayer
Document comments: V-2026-03-04

Sabanto and Leaps by Bayer Announce Oversubscribed Series B Financing to Scale Autonomous Technology for Row Crop Farming
•	Funding supports commercialization and sales growth expansion, targeting hundreds of new farms in the next 12 months
•	Autonomy technology is designed to lower capital expenditures and unlock the ability to scale operations more efficiently
•	Sabanto’s physical AI makes swarm operations possible so that growers can replace horsepower with time

Ames, IA, July 14, 2026 –Sabanto, a leader in autonomous retrofit technology for agriculture, today announced an oversubscribed Series B funding led by Leaps by Bayer with participation by Sustainable Forward Capital, InnoVenture Iowa, Fulcrum Global Capital, DCVC, and Yara. The round will accelerate broad adoption of autonomous technology, expand customer base, and further develop autonomy retrofit kits across North America and beyond.

Sabanto’s ambition for scale comes at a critical time for agriculture, as growers face historic tighter margins via rising equipment and input costs, labor shortages, and increasing pressure to maximize productivity. While well-known equipment manufacturers or OEMs are focusing on bigger and more expensive machines, Sabanto’s retrofit autonomy platform offers farmers a lower-capital pathway to profitability by utilizing existing, less-expensive, and smaller horsepower equipment.

By enabling tractors to operate autonomously during planting and other field operations, Sabanto helps growers extend operating hours to virtually any time of day while reducing dependency on seasonal labor constraints. Autonomous retrofit technology will increasingly allow farm operators to reallocate skilled labor toward logistics, agronomic decision-making, and operational expansion.

“This investment represents a major step forward in bringing practical autonomy to more farms,” said Craig Rupp, CEO and founder of Sabanto. “We believe the workhorse of the future is smaller equipment. Our retrofit approach allows farmers to shift labor toward higher-value tasks, increase operating hours, and ultimately focus on growing their business and their bottom line. We’re seeing too many farms fold under economic pressure and our solution levels the playing field.”

The investment will support:

●	Expanded commercialization and dealer network growth
●	Increased retrofit kit production and deployment
●	Continued software and autonomy platform development
●	Expanded customer support and field operations
●	Accelerated adoption within the row crop market

Sabanto recently expanded autonomous functionality into planting operations, allowing growers to maximize critical planting windows by operating equipment around the clock. New integrations with Precision Planting^® and DICKEY-john^® monitoring systems further enhance compatibility with widely used precision agriculture technologies, enabling seamless operation for growers already invested in modern planting systems.

Sabanto’s funding round also aligns closely with Bayer’s long-term sustainability and environmental objectives of better use of land and resources, more regenerative practices, and win-win solutions for the diverse needs of people and our planet. Sabanto’s retrofit model enables growers to utilize smaller, lighter equipment platforms that can help reduce soil compaction compared to larger traditional machinery, supporting improved soil health and long-term field productivity. Autonomous operations can also optimize machine efficiency by reducing inefficiencies such as overlaps, minimizing idle time, and improving route consistency, contributing to lower fuel consumption during field operations.

Sabanto’s autonomy platform is designed to work in concert with increasingly “smart” implements and precision agriculture systems, helping growers better manage fertilizer applications, seed placement, spraying, and other critical inputs. By combining autonomy with precision technologies, growers can reduce input waste, improve operational accuracy, and lower overall cost per acre, while still being mindful of the environment.

“Farmers today need solutions that improve efficiency without requiring massive capital expenditures,” said Paimun Amini, VP of Agriculture Venture Investments at Leaps by Bayer. “Sabanto’s retrofit model offers a scalable and practical pathway to autonomy, especially in today’s challenging farm economy. We believe this technology offers options that can reshape how labor and equipment are utilized in row crop farming and beyond while also supporting more sustainable farming practices.”

Photos and videos are available in this folder.

About Sabanto 
Sabanto is a midwest-based agricultural technology firm focused on delivering physical AI-enabled, retrofit autonomous solutions for farming operations across multiple industry segments. Sabanto’s Retrofit Autonomy Kit transforms off-the-shelf tractors into fully autonomous machines. The kit includes a cloud-connected communications system, multiple GNSS receivers, and an onboard AI processing unit, and can be installed in a single day. By upfitting existing equipment to operate autonomously, Sabanto helps growers reduce time & labor constraints, maximize machine output, and ultimately improve operational efficiency across a range of agricultural applications.

About Leaps by Bayer
Leaps by Bayer aims to solve ten huge challenges or ‘Leaps’ through scientific breakthroughs. As the strategic investment unit of Bayer, Leaps has invested over $2.1 billion in more than 65 companies innovating emerging platforms and technologies in health and agriculture. www.leaps.bayer.com

Contact for media inquiries:
Kira Peikoff, phone +1 973 791 3348
Email: Kira.peikoff@bayer.com

Find more information at www.bayer.com.

kp	(2026-0117E)

Forward-Looking Statements 
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. 

Bayer AG is a holding company with operating subsidiaries worldwide. References to “Bayer” or “the company” herein may refer to one or more subsidiaries as context requires.