Three Israeli farming cooperatives are putting money where their orchards are. Last week, kibbutzim Magal, Horashim and Eyal announced they had invested directly in BloomX, a Rishpon-based startup that builds electrostatic pollination robots, and committed to deploying the company's tractor-mounted machines across their own avocado groves.
The vote of confidence came alongside a $13 million Series A round led by Elah Fund, with backing from Rothschild, OurCrowd and Sadot, the agtech arm of Granot Organization, according to coverage published in early October. For BloomX, the grower participation carries weight beyond the capital. "The people who understand the realities and challenges of commercial agriculture firsthand are choosing not only to invest in BloomX, but also to bring our technology into the field," founder and CEO Thai Sade said in a statement.
That choice reflects a broader reckoning in commercial agriculture. Honeybee colony losses have strained pollination services for years, pushing rental costs higher and forcing growers to consider alternatives they once would have dismissed. U.S. colony losses hovered near 40% in recent annual surveys by Auburn University and the Bee Informed Partnership, down from a peak above 50% but still far above sustainable thresholds. Almond growers alone paid $325.8 million for pollination services in 2023, with average colony rental fees hitting $181, according to USDA data.
BloomX has raised $26.2 million to date, including an $8 million seed round in February 2023 led by Ahern Agribusiness and a $5.2 million pre-Series A in 2024. The company now operates across Israel, Peru, Mexico and South Africa with a team of 19, according to a September profile in Calcalist CTech.
The startup's flagship product, YAHAV2400, mounts on standard tractors and uses electrostatic surfaces designed to mimic the positive charge of bees. The system collects pollen from orchard trees and reapplies it during the bloom window when flowers are receptive. A second platform, Robee, replicates the vibration frequency of bumblebees to shake pollen from blueberry flowers, which honeybees struggle to pollinate effectively. A handheld unit, YAHAV1400, handles smaller jobs. All three systems integrate GPS tracking and software that predicts flowering periods and syncs with existing farm management tools.
Rather than selling hardware, BloomX operates what it calls a full-service seasonal model. The company owns, maintains and redeploys fleets across hemispheres as growing seasons shift. Case studies published by BloomX cite a 16.5% avocado yield increase at Allesbeste Boerdery in South Africa and a 33.5% boost in marketable yields at Grupo Rotondo in Peru, though the company has not released independent agronomic audits to verify those figures.
The new funding will support deeper engagement with existing customers and broader adoption of the YAHAV2400 platform, Sade said. The company also plans to expand into new crops and geographies while scaling its managed-service approach.
BloomX faces competition from several angles. BeeHero focuses on hive sensors and data-driven pollination management. Beewise, which raised $50 million in a Series D earlier this year, builds robotic beehives that automate colony care. Edete offers stored-pollen mechanical pollination for California almond and pistachio orchards. Dropcopter uses drones to pollinate apples, almonds and cherries, while Arugga AI Farming targets greenhouse tomato pollination.
The direct investment by kibbutzim linked to Granot, Israel's largest regional agricultural organization, may prove more significant than the dollar amount suggests. Kibbutz Eyal has already used BloomX systems in its avocado operations and appears in company case studies. That operational track record, combined with financial backing from the growers themselves, lends the startup credibility that venture capital alone cannot buy.
Sade grew up on a kibbutz, served as an infantry officer in the Israel Defense Forces and studied at Reichman University's Zell Entrepreneurship Program before co-founding the company in 2019 alongside Avi Keren and Ido Senesh. The startup originally operated under the name Bumblebee AI before rebranding.
Whether robotic pollination can scale beyond niche applications remains an open question. The technology works for certain crops in certain conditions, but agriculture is rarely that simple. Still, with bee populations under persistent pressure and pollination costs climbing, growers seem willing to experiment with alternatives that would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago.
