Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes’ Ukkö Robotics is receiving a $100,000 grant from the Manitoba government to better its innovative company as part of the Innovation Growth Program (IGP).
The Innovation Growth Program (IGP) is there to help commercialize their products and grow their business as the program provides cost-shared grants of up to $100,000 to eligible Manitoba small and medium-sized enterprises to assist with the commercialization of innovative products or processes and accelerate growth.
Ukkö Robotics owners Daniel Badiou and Katrina Jean-LaFlamme are receiving the $100,000 to commercialize their mobile monitored livestock shades and poultry micro barns that can move autonomously in pasture settings.
Badiou and Jean-LaFlamme were thrilled to learn that they have successfully secured the Innovation Growth Program from the Province of Manitoba.
“Ukkö Robotics specializes in automating the return of livestock to pasture,” said Daniel Badiou. “Given the nature of our work, extensive research and development efforts are invested in creating new products for our farmer customers. Utilizing the grant to offset some of these costs will expedite the introduction of new products to the market.”
Raised on a dairy farm near Notre-Dame-des-Lourdes, Badiou developed an unparalleled knowledge of agricultural machinery and animal farming from an early age. He continuously strived to learn more about the mechanical operation of agricultural machinery, finding solutions for problems and designing his own multi-purpose machines.
Badiou designed, developed and implemented an autonomous barn. He tested it on his own farm to better understand the needs of chicken farming and adapt his future machines.
Ukkö Robotics was launched in September 2016 with the goal of using technology to transform the traditional barn, making pasture-based farming more accessible. Partnering with mechanical engineer Katrina Jean-Laflamme, Ukkö specializes in manufacturing an all-in-one autonomous barn that falls under the company’s ROVA Series.
ROVA provides farmers and aspiring farmers with never-before-seen flexibility, allowing individuals to raise their animals on pasture while having the same benefits as most high-tech barns.
In 2021, Ukkö Robotics first launched its flagship product, the ROVABARN PRO, and has since experienced exponential year-over-year growth.
“Our primary customers are farmers engaged in pastured poultry farming, aiming to scale their operations without increasing labour demands,” said Badiou. “Our units reduce the labour required for raising true pasture-raised poultry by 90 per cent. The ROVABARN autonomously moves birds to fresh pasture multiple times a day, handles automatic feeding and watering, provides automatic ventilation, and is solar-powered, with connectivity to smartphones. Our barns are operational across provinces in Canada and in certain states in the United States. Additionally, we are in the process of sending our first batch of units overseas this year.”
Ukkö Robotics has much more in the works going forward as they are developing the capability of the ROVABARN to bring smaller livestock to pasture.
“In the near future, we plan to initiate testing for larger animals such as cattle and sheep. Furthermore, we are working on introducing a micro ROVBARN model designed for modern homesteaders, accommodating up to 12 hens, which we anticipate will be popular on many farms and acreages.”
For more information about the Innovation Growth Program, including details on how to apply, please visit https://gov.mb.ca/jec/busdev/financial/igp/index.html
