Scots robot lawnmower venture in growth spurt after £400k funding injection

A Scottish start-up that is looking to revolutionise the lawncare market with its robot mower has secured a six-figure funding injection.

Kingdom Technologies was founded by Joan Kangro. Picture: Contributed

Kingdom Technologies, which was founded by Estonian Joan Kangro and is based in the business hatchery at the University of Glasgow, has landed investment of £400,000 in an initial funding round.

The business has developed a “next-generation” robot mower using artificial intelligence and patent pending mapping technology which is said to outperform existing products in a market estimated to be worth some £20 billion a year.

The funding has come from a collection of investors, led by European early stage investment firms Superangel and United Angels. The round includes a number of other Scottish and Estonian investors.

Kingdom, which was advised on the funding deal by Scottish law firm Harper Macleod, is targeting local authorities, golf clubs and commercial premises, as well as residential properties with large gardens.

Kangro, who holds a masters degree in mechatronics from the University of Glasgow, said: “This funding will allow us to start the commercial pilots and prepare for large scale manufacturing.

“We have already demonstrated the advantages of our product compared to the competition and it is fantastic that our investors share our belief that we can disrupt this market.”

Harper Macleod partner Paula Skinner said: “Over the past few years Scotland has really become a great place to start tech business and this is another example of the tremendous support and investment capital that can be accessed from here by ambitious young companies.”