STIHL, the German company probably best known in the U.S. market for its chainsaws, has purchased 23.8% equity stake in a Danish company called TinyMobileRobots that is focused on automated line marking of fields for sporting events.
While it might seem like an odd pairing on the surface, STIHL has invested in recent years in the development of a line of robotic lawn mowers, which the company said in a statement "share a strong technical kinship with the advanced and fully autonomous line marking robots produced by TinyMobileRobots."
For its part, TinyMobileRobots, (a name which makes us think of one famous one in particular) is targeting its technology ate a seemingly narrow group of applications--marking white lines and logos on sports fields and roads, for example. However, consider that it can take one or two humans several hours to apply necessary line markings to soccer and football fields, often using more line paint than is necessary and (apologies to the teen volunteers who occasionally mark up one of our neighborhood fields) sometimes not doing of very good job of it. It's also a task that must be done many times of the course of a season as grass grows and gets mowed.
TinyMobileRobots' robotic unit can apply the same line marking to a large sports field in a matter of minutes, saving time, and using less line paint, saving costs. The company manages this by having field measurement stored on an iPad, which can be used in a ne-button operation to activate the robot to begin marking a field. the company said it has marked more than 800,000 sports fields around the world
Its approach has landed the company several customers in the U.S. and Europe, including Yale University, Major League Soccer club FC Dallas, The University of Michigan, Florida State University and Manchester United, among others, helping the company double in size each year of its five-year existence, according to a statement about the STIHL investment.
STIHL Group's STIHL Digital invested in TinyMobileRobots by buying out the company’s former state-funded investment, managed by venture capital firm Borean Innovation, which was commissioned by the Danish Government.
Jens Peder Kristensen, founder and CEO of TinyMobileRobots, said his company can benefit from STIHL's market experience and reources. “We have been looking for a strong partner capable of securing further growth and development – and partnering with STIHL is an absolute dream scenario," he said in a statement. "Together, we share a pool of knowledge, experience and skills, which will create great value for both companies. Right from the outset, we will also benefit greatly from STIHL’s worldwide network of dealers. While maintaining our status as an independent company, we can draw on STIHL’s huge market experience to accelerate our growth further."
With the success TonyMobileRobots already has had in the U.S., the investment also provides STIHL with new market opportunities and synergy potential as it also is looking to grow its U.S. market presence.
“We have been in close contact with TinyMobileRobots for more than two years and steadily, we have become more and more impressed with their growth rates and performance. As the chance to acquire nearly a quarter of the company arose, we were quick to strike a deal. We feel convinced that our future collective efforts will lead to an even greater share of TinyMobileRobots' fast growing and innovation driven market,” said Benjamin Junghans, director of STIHL Digital, in the statement.
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