CategoryAgricultural robots
Overview
Bear Flag Robotics is a Newark, CA-based autonomous tractor startup founded by Igino Cafiero (CEO) and Aubrey Donnellan. The company developed autonomous driving technology for tractors and was acquired by John Deere in August 2021 for $250 million. Bear Flag operates as an independent subsidiary within Deere, advancing autonomous farming technology.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDAcquisitionAcquired by John Deere
Key facts
Co-founders
Acquired by
Product
Co-Founder
Data & sources
News coverage
1
Web sources
1
2 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Bear Flag Robotics on the deployment map
Where Bear Flag Robotics's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.
Relationships
Current leadership (1)
- Igino Cafiero Co-Founder & CEOreported, not verified
Founders (1)
- Igino Cafierocofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Bear Flag Robotics.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operated deployments (1)
Operator customers (1)
- Bear Flag Robotics1 deployment
Recent coverage
Bear Flag Robotics in third-party press
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Naio Technologies4 models
- WORX Landroid4 models
- Carbon Robotics3 models
- GreenField Robotics2 models
- HG Robotics2 models
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- aggregator_estimate
- Lifecycle stage
- acquired
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Other2021-08-01
$250M(reported)
Investors: John Deere
Acquisitions (1)
- acquired by John Deerefull acquisition2021-08-05
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Review status verifiedVerifiedJun 27, 2026
unreviewed -> reviewed
- Record createdJun 11, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2020
Bear Flag autonomous tractor retrofit at Salinas
Sources (2)
- John Deere Acquires Bear Flag Robotics to Accelerate Autonomous Technology on the Farm · https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-deere-acquires-bear-flag-robotics-to-accelerate-autonomous-technology-on-the-farm-301349496.html · 2021-08-05
- John Deere buys autonomous tractor startup Bear Flag Robotics · https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/05/john-deere-buys-autonomous-tractor-startup-bear-flag-robotics/ · 2021-08-05
Common questions
What is Bear Flag Robotics?
What does Bear Flag Robotics make?
Is Bear Flag Robotics publicly traded?
Who competes with Bear Flag Robotics?
Who is the CEO of Bear Flag Robotics?
How can I invest in Bear Flag Robotics?
Where is Bear Flag Robotics headquartered?
How much funding has Bear Flag Robotics raised?
Who owns Bear Flag Robotics?
Where does Bear Flag Robotics operate robots?
Is Bear Flag Robotics a top robotics company?
When was Bear Flag Robotics founded?
Is Bear Flag Robotics safe?
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-03
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-03
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Bear Flag Robotics.Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Naio Technologies4 models
- WORX Landroid4 models
- Carbon Robotics3 models
- GreenField Robotics2 models
- HG Robotics2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Bear Flag Robotics from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
John Deere Acquires Bear Flag Robotics to Accelerate Autonomous Technology on the Farm
John Deere acquired Bear Flag Robotics, founded by Igino Cafiero and Aubrey Donnellan, for 50M to accelerate autonomous farming technology.
John Deere acquiring Bear Flag Robotics for $250M
John Deere announced the acquisition of Bear Flag Robotics, a developer of autonomous tractor technology, for $250 million to accelerate autonomous farming.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/bear-flag-robotics.md
- RSS feed: /companies/bear-flag-robotics/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/c6deed28-76f1-4b41-9ddb-a20b9b5b1629
- Revision history: /companies/bear-flag-robotics/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- DJI7 models
- Naio Technologies4 models
- WORX Landroid4 models
- Carbon Robotics3 models
- GreenField Robotics2 models
- HG Robotics2 models
Reality vs attention
Bear Flag Robotics draws attention at the 13th percentile but verifies reality at the 3rd percentile among ag robots. Hype Gap +10.5, 12th widest among ag robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 1 verified deployment. Limited public visibility and press coverage relative to peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 27, 2026