Irrigation technology company CropX has completed the first close of its $9 million Series A financing, led by Finistere Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and GreenSoil Investments. OurCrowd also participated in the round given its previous investment in the company.
CropX uses advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) and big data to transform traditional farming techniques. It says that the investment will be used to aggressively expand its team and scale the company to meet the increasing need among farmers for low-cost and simplified, remote control of their irrigation. It will also fund new product development including controls in nutrition, plant protection, and planting and harvesting prediction.
"As a pioneer in the AgTech sector, we are always looking for promising technologies with the potential to make a meaningful difference to farmers’ profitability and sustainability," said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures, "CropX is the first retail-priced solution allowing farmers to control irrigation to minimize water use, save on farm energy, augment yield, and control fertilizer runoff, thereby improving environmental compliance."
The CropX system automatically analyzes the exact water needs of different parts of each field based on topography, soil structure, and current moisture. Farmers simply download the mobile app and place three wireless sensors in the ground. These sensors continuously send soil readings to the cloud, where the patent-pending CropX software determines how to effectively irrigate different parts of the field based on pattern-recognition analysis and revolutionary algorithms. Farmers can self-install the system without expensive infrastructure or significant consulting input during the installation process.
CropX’s product was developed by scientists and technology experts in New Zealand and Israel, a global leader in water conservation technology, and was validated on-farm over the past five years.
"The world is running out of water, and, therefore, food. The US drought is a growing problem that we must tackle head on. The farming industry is struggling to manage rising energy costs and restricted water supplies, while trying to decrease water waste and increase crop yields," said CropX CEO Isaac Bentwich, "Our simple software service helps farmers easily grow more with less - and eliminates unnecessary water usage."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 22, 2015
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