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From left to proper: Lilia Planjyan and Joëlle van den Model are co-founders of Agurotech | Picture Credit score: Agurotech
Meals safety is likely one of the largest challenges watching us proper now. With growing inhabitants development and restricted pure assets, addressing this downside is the necessity of the hour.
Whereas there are a variety of agtech startups attempting to handle this problem, Dutch startup Agurotech desires to deliver a radical change in the way in which farming is finished.
The Amsterdam-based startup provides options that allow farmers to transition from their present technique of farming to a data-driven way forward for farming.
Utilizing knowledge and insights, Agurotech helps farmers to effectively use assets reminiscent of water.
This week, Agurotech raised €1.5M in Sequence A funding from ROM InWest and Navus Ventures to gas data-driven arable farming.
Each month, we discuss to a founder on their quest for funding, and Agurotech co-founder Joëlle van den Model’s mission to affect the farming trade is infectious.
What’s Agurotech?
Meals safety disaster is just not a distant problem however an ongoing one exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and trade-related insurance policies imposed by international locations.
The mid-year replace of the World Report on Meals Disaster 2022 reveals as much as 205 million individuals are anticipated to face acute meals insecurity and be in want of pressing help in 45 international locations.
One answer to this downside could be to extend manufacturing, however arable land is just not solely shrinking however is dealing with human-induced threats reminiscent of speedy urbanisation, mining, farming, and ranching cattle set off land degradation.
All these actions trigger harm to the nutrient holding capability of the land and over time, make it not possible to conduct farming on the land.
Joëlle van den Model, who has a MS in Mathematical Economics from Maastricht College, sees this problem not solely as a tech downside but in addition as an information downside.
“There’s most definitely not one answer for this problem,” she says. “It will likely be a mix of extra sustainable farming practices, innovation, higher use of know-how, maybe a change of food plan, extra sustainable logistics and so forth.”
This early realisation of learn how to overcome this meals insecurity drove Joëlle van den Model to co-found Agurotech with Lilia Planjyan.
The Dutch startup develops, produces, and delivers {hardware} and software program options to assist farmers with sustainable and data-driven farming.
Its {hardware} and software program options embrace sensor know-how, climate stations, and purposes that supply farmers real-time perception into the circumstances of their fields and knowledge that tells farmers what their crops want for optimum development.
“The intuitive software program offers farmers with real-time insights into soil circumstances, native climate circumstances, and AI-powered predictions,” she explains.
The tip results of deploying Agurotech’s {hardware} and software program options is that farmers enhance their yield and use assets extra effectively.
Think about a farmer rising extra crops in the identical subject whereas additionally utilizing much less water and different assets. Agurotech makes that occur.
Impacting the farming trade
The standard farming is generally executed primarily based on instinct, expertise, and what Joëlle calls “intestine feeling.”
She says farmers don’t base their choices on details or knowledge, which ends up in both below or over software of assets and productiveness loss.
With 80 per cent of the world coping with water shortage, the farming trade is dealing with the specter of drought and even the land turning into arid.
“Some elements of the world can’t farm the identical crops as they used to, as a consequence of water shortages,” Joëlle says.
Along with these challenges, farmers are additionally pushed to undertake extra sustainable farming practices.
To beat the pure problem and in addition change into sustainable, farmers are turning in direction of data-driven or precision farming applied sciences.
“There’s a large affect that may be made by enabling the farming trade to use extra data-driven methods of working,” Joëlle says.
There are lots of of thousands and thousands of farmers globally, who nonetheless depend on conventional farming.
For Agurotech’s founders, their affect on the farming trade will come within the type of know-how that farmers wish to use, not solely to enhance their enterprise mannequin but in addition contribute to sustainability objectives.
Information is every little thing
In our hyper-connected world, every little thing is knowledge besides when it isn’t. Even in farming, every little thing is knowledge and studying concerning the breadth of that knowledge from Agurotech is astonishing.
Joëlle tells Silicon Canals that Agurotech’s sensors measure electrical conductivity, soil moisture, and soil temperature at a number of depths.
The climate stations that Agurotech provides to farmers measure native climate circumstances reminiscent of temperature, rainfall, humidity, and temperature.
As soon as the info is collected, Agurotech combines it with agricultural fashions and informs farmers “whether or not or not the circumstances within the fields permit for optimum crop development.”
It doesn’t simply cease there. The software program answer additionally helps farmers with data they’ll use to extend crop yields.
“Agurotech advises farmers on whether or not their soils want extra irrigation, if the soil has salinity degree and what the anticipated soil moisture circumstances might be,” provides Joëlle.
All that knowledge wouldn’t be doable with out the sensors and climate stations that Agurotech designs in-house.
Whereas designing its sensors and climate stations, Agurotech confronted the problem that each different firm confronted throughout COVID-19 pandemic: provide chain disruption.
Joëlle says some elements that had been a part of their prototype had a ready time of over 50 weeks and as a startup, Agurotech didn’t have the leverage of a longtime tech firm like Apple to expedite the supply or construct its personal stock.
“This pressured us to revamp crucial elements of our know-how to permit it to suit extra obtainable parts,” provides Joëlle.
This redesign course of value Agurotech about half a yr’s time however the journey is an instance of learn how to overcome advanced issues with easier options.
Fundraising with a mission
At Silicon Canals, we now have documented the battle of Dutch startups to boost early-stage funding extensively.
This funding turns into much more difficult in case you are an affect startup or startup in a subject like agtech.
Even Agurotech confronted some challenges whereas going forward with its Sequence A funding spherical.
Joëlle doesn’t mince phrases when she says that buyers thought-about early-stage startups with a mix of {hardware} and the farming trade to be dangerous.
She provides, “They typically required a number of proof factors which had been difficult to provide in 2.5 years time.”
For Joëlle and Lilia, each setback is a studying expertise and this expertise made them search for an investor with good strategic match, proper market expertise, and data.
They discovered companions in ROM InWest and Navus Ventures, with whom they see a possibility to construct a robust partnership.
“The 2 buyers we discovered complement one another and are very supportive of our marketing strategy,” says Joëlle.
ROM InWest lately backed tex.tracer, which is one other female-led Dutch startup attempting to affect the style trade to achieve its sustainability objectives.
Joëlle says they don’t have a concrete plan to boost further funds however does see a possible to develop quicker with a second spherical.
Way forward for Agurotech and data-driven farming
One of many issues that Agurotech is doing otherwise is permitting farmers to see its tech in motion and determine for themselves.
“There’s a lot at stake for farmers in terms of their harvest and they don’t simply wish to experiment with applied sciences that may probably put their yield in danger,” says Joëlle.
“We consider in giving farmers the details that they should help determination making and supply them with actionable recommendation that’s particular to their soil and plant sort,” she provides.
This course of had led to Agurotech spending plenty of time on deciphering its sensor measurements and including concrete worth to the day by day operations of farmers.
Like many different industries, the agtech trade can be male dominated however like different Dutch feminine founders, Joëlle doesn’t see it as being male or feminine.
She says it’s in the end about constructing one of the best product and suggests feminine founders ought to tackle any “feminine particular” challenges straight with buyers.
With €1.5M at its disposal, Agurotech now plans to scale up its know-how and distribution.
The startup can be seeking to construct sturdy partnerships with totally different trade gamers to ramp up market entry and distribution.
It additionally plans to develop internationally however goals to remain rooted in analysis and growth chops.
“We are going to proceed to develop progressive options to assist the farming trade be more practical, environment friendly and sustainable,” says Joëlle.
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