We analyse the most important investment rounds that have been closed in recent years in the Agrotech ecosystem, a sector that will be of vital importance in the coming decades. The investment effort in this sector is focused on the research of projects and products to increase and improve agricultural production worldwide.
The most important global Agrotech investment rounds in 2017
Plenty Inc. raises $200M in investment round
Plenty Inc.specialising in agricultural technology for the development of pesticide- and GMO-free greenhouse crops, has received $200M in a round led by SoftBank Vision fund, joined by Moore Capital Management founder Louis Bacon and previous investors DCM Ventures and Alphabet Inc. This is the largest investment in Agrotech in history, and far exceeds the previous round of $24.5M that Plenty received in 2016.
Abundant Robotics receives $10M
GV (Google Ventures) has led a $10M round of financing in Abundant Roboticsan American company that develops apple harvesting robots that can be adapted to harvest other fruits. GV is joined in this round by funds BayWa AG and Tellus Partners, along with the company's previous investors, Yamaha Motor Company, KPCB Edge and Comet Labs.
Taranis closes $7.5M round
The Israeli company Taranisspecialising in data analytics for precision agriculture, has received $7.5M in a round led by Finistere Ventures, a fund focused on agrotech, and Vertex Ventures, a venture capital firm specialising in IT and healthcare startups.
Taranis uses deep learning technology from aerial and satellite imagery, field sensors, weather forecasts and data from its field scanning application to predict and prevent crop diseases and avoid pest losses, helping farmers improve yields and reduce costs.
The most important Agrotech investment rounds in Spain in 2017
Ec2ce gets €1M
Ec2cethe Seville-based artificial intelligence and big data startup for agriculture and livestock, has closed a deal with the 1M funding round. The capital will go towards the commercial expansion of the company, which wants to expand into the North and South American market, by contacting companies operating in the sector.
The startup has developed a platform to support decision-making related to strategy, commerce and agronomic management. This technology is based on predictive models that make it possible to calculate variables such as annual harvest, productivity, the evolution of pests or fetirrigation needs, which makes it possible to optimise the results of farms.
Ec2ce is active in Spain and Europe, working with several agricultural and livestock companies, and achieved a turnover of €120,000 in 2016, which it expects to double in 2017. The capital increase involves the incorporation of the company Drystone to the board of directors, with the presence of Fernando Seco, President of the association of Entrepreneurs of Southern Spain, CESUR, and Manuel Losada, partner of Akta Partners.
PlantResponse Biotech receives €6.6M
PlantResponse Biotechthe spin-off of the Polytechnic University of Madrid specialising in the development of crop protection products that do not generate waste, has received €6.6M from the investment fund Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV). Monsanto, focused on technology development and agriculture companies, was already a shareholder of the Madrid-based company, after the first investment round of €5.7M in 2015.
PlantResponse has a strong intellectual property portfolio, which includes the rights to exploit six patent families and 10 products associated with them, in a niche market, the agro-biological industry, whose market value in Spain is around €300M and which has an annual growth rate of over 15%.
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Ec2ce, a Spanish company applying big data to agriculture, receives €1M
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