Alpha-bot Flying Harvester by Tevel Aerobotics: status and timeline

Alpha-bot Flying Harvester

Tethered flying robot with eight drone arms that navigate tree canopies to pick ripe fruit. Reduces labor costs 50% versus hand-picking.

DeployStage 4 of 5

Commercial deployment in California (HMC Farms), Chile (Unifrutti), and Italy (Rivoira Group).

Updated 26 Mar 2026Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

No announced next step

Tevel founded2017Complete.
Series A funding ($10M)Apr 2019Complete.
Series B funding ($20M)Jan 2021Complete.
Commercial deployment with HMC Farms (California)2022Complete.
Expansion to Chile (Unifrutti partnership)2023Complete.
Series C funding ($18M)26 Mar 2026Complete.

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Ripeness detection in leaves and shadowsIdentifying ripe fruit inside dense canopies with occlusion and variable lighting is still a research problem; false picks waste time.
Gripping and detaching without bruisingFinding the right grip force for different fruit sizes and ripeness levels requires careful tuning.

Physics limits

Tree structure and canopy density vary by cultivarDifferent apple, peach, and plum varieties have different tree shapes and leaf densities. A system tuned for one variety may struggle with another, limiting speed.
Harvest season is short and concentratedFruit ripens in a narrow window, creating peak labor demand. A robot must achieve very high throughput during that window or pick-time costs stay high.

How it works

3 parts

Tethered flight

Drones stay connected to power and control

Eight arms tether to a ground cart that supplies power and comms. Never lose connectivity or power.

Canopy navigation

Flies inside the tree

Unlike ground robots, the flying arms can navigate deep into tree canopies where fruit is densest, even in areas humans find difficult to reach from ladders.

AI vision and grip

Identifies ripe fruit and picks gently

Computer vision identifies ripe fruit by color and texture. The grippers apply precise force to pick without bruising, and a gentle twist detaches the fruit.

Spec sheet

Spec	Alpha-bot Flying Harvester
Drone arms per system	8^R (reported)
Labor cost reduction	Up to 50%^R (reported)
Fruit types handled	Apples, peaches, plums, nectarines^R (reported)
Countries with commercial operations	3 (USA, Chile, Italy)^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About Tevel Aerobotics

The team behind Alpha-bot Flying Harvester

Tevel Aerobotics

Flying autonomous fruit picking robots, tethered drones, AI harvesting

Tethered flying autonomous robots for fruit harvesting in apples, peaches, plums, nectarines. Founded 2017. Deployed at HMC Farms (CA), Unifrutti (Chile), Rivoira (Italy).

Each Tevel system uses eight drone arms tethered to a ground cart to navigate fruit tree canopies and gently pick ripe fruit.
Deployed commercially in California (HMC Farms), Chile (Unifrutti), and Italy (Rivoira Group), reducing labor costs by up to 50%.
Series C $18M in Mar 2026; total $55M+ from Kubota, Sound Media, Maverick Ventures, AgFunder.

tevel-tech.com (opens tevel-tech.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20179 yrs
Headquarters: Israel
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Staff: ~83Jul 2025
Raised: $48M3 rounds
Last round: Series C · $18M26 Mar 2026
Works in: AgricultureCrop robots & drones
Coverage: 1 program · 4 updateslatest 26 Mar 2026checked 10 Oct
Lead investors: Sound Media VenturesMaverick Ventures IsraelKubota CorporationAgFunder
Customers: HMC Farms (opens hmcfarms.com)Unifrutti (opens unifrutti.com)Rivoira Group (opens rivoira.it)
Investors: Kubota Corporation
People: Yaniv Maor (opens tevel-tech.com)Founder & CEOEyal DeshehChairman of the Board

Spec

Alpha-bot Flying Harvester

Drone arms per system

8^R (reported)

Labor cost reduction

Up to 50%^R (reported)

Fruit types handled

Apples, peaches, plums, nectarines^R (reported)

Countries with commercial operations

3 (USA, Chile, Italy)^R (reported)

Alpha-bot Flying Harvester

Milestones

Most important updates

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Drones stay connected to power and control

Flies inside the tree

Identifies ripe fruit and picks gently

Spec sheet

Update log

Thu 26 Mar

May 2023

Jul 2022

Jan 2021

About Tevel Aerobotics

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Drones stay connected to power and control

Flies inside the tree

Identifies ripe fruit and picks gently

Spec sheet

Update log

Thu 26 Mar

May 2023

Jul 2022

Jan 2021

About Tevel Aerobotics