John Deere announces new cohort of 2026 startup collaborators

John Deere announced the selection of five companies for its 2026 Startup Collaborator Program, which aims to strengthen its engagement with startups whose technologies could add value to agriculture, construction, and roadbuilding sectors. These startups focus on areas such as real-time equipment monitoring, predictive maintenance, telematics, advanced soil sensing, AI-driven robotics, and digital crop analytics.

Established in 2019, the program is designed to build closer relationships with early-stage vendors whose innovations may be integrated into Deere's products or services. 

"Through the Startup Collaborator Program, we're working with startups whose technologies address critical challenges across the various industries we serve," said Wes Robinson, Vice President, Corporate Development & Strategy at John Deere, in the announcement of the program’s 2026 cohort. He added that the startups “can help us move faster in delivering practical innovations that improve precision, productivity, and sustainability for our customers."

The selected startups have distinct technical areas of focus:

• AIRS ML is developing on-device AI for real-time equipment monitoring and predictive maintenance. 
• IoTag offers a patented telematics solution that converts raw machine data into actionable insights to optimize performance across mixed fleets.
• resonAg from Australia applies proven technologies from sectors such as medicine, mining, and oil and gas to develop advanced soil-sensing systems for precision agriculture. 
• TorqueAGI is building an AI foundation model to support enterprise robotics that can perform real-world reasoning and achieve autonomy. 
• Aerobotics uses drone and mobile imagery, combined with computer vision and AI, to provide insights for the fruit industry, helping growers, packers, and shippers estimate yields and improve operations.

Working with external innovators rather than relying exclusively on internal research and development is an approach that should allow John Deere to stay connected with niche specialists in sensing and AI, which is especially relevant as many manufacturers explore autonomous systems and precision farming techniques. The collaborations may also provide the startups in the program with exposure to Deere’s industry presence, enabling testing and potential future deployment of their innovations.

Deere emphasized that this program complements its broader initiatives in external innovation partnerships, focusing on practical exploration rather than immediate product launches. Colton Salyards, Principal of Corporate Development at Deere, commented that "the startups in our eighth Collaborator cohort bring complementary technologies that span monitoring, sensing, AI, robotics, and data‑driven insights," also noting that "through close collaboration, we're able to explore how these innovations can translate into practical benefits for customers in agriculture and construction."

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