April 7, 2017

Australian agtech startup, The Yield, announced it has successfully raised a $6.5 million Series A backed by global manufacturing companies Bosch, KPMG, and by Agfunder.

The closing of this round, which also represents the maiden investment for Agfunder’s Opportunity Fund, brings The Yield’s total fundraising to $11.5 million raised over the past two years.

Based in Tasmania, The Yield’s Sensing+ microclimate system uses sensors, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics, along with technologies developed by Microsoft, Bosch, and Intel to help producers make informed decisions regarding the management of their operations.

One on-the-ground example of the technology’s application is its use by oyster farmers following a viral outbreak of Pacific Ocean Mortality Syndrome (POMS) in 2016, which strikes oyster beds when water temperatures rise above a certain level.

Additionally, in the past, rain events have led to concerns over runoff bringing contaminants into estuaries, making oysters at these locations unsafe for consumption, and forcing farmers to close their operations for stretches of weeks at a time at a cost of between $20,000 and $100,000 per day.  Because of this pre-emptive practice, oyster farmers in the state of Tasmania have lost A$4.3 million per year for the past three years, according to Tech Republic.

However, it has been discovered that due to inaccuracies with laborious, manually-gathered data, in nearly one third of the cases where oyster farms were closed, there was no presence of a risk to food safety.

In response, The Yield partnered with Bosch, Microsoft, local governments, and oyster farmers to deploy its sensors across 14 estuaries, or 80 percent of Tasmania’s oyster production acreage. Through the provision of highly accurate temperature, salinity, tidal, and atmospheric data, The Yield is able to help farmers and industry regulators make more informed decisions regarding production and safety.

“Australia is the perfect breeding ground for agtech innovation, because our conditions are so tough,” said Ros Harvey, founder and managing director of The Yield. “Growers are innovative because they need to be. Helping them to solve real problems, while creating reliable and accurate technology they can use day in, day out, is essential.”

“This is not a passive investment for us,” added Gary Wingrove, CEO of KPMG Australia. “Our strategic relationship creates an opportunity to make a real difference to enhancing food growers’ profitability and competitiveness through the combination of The Yield’s innovative technology, and KPMG’s AgTech and IoT consulting capability.”

Plans

Unlike other sensor-driven data management and analytic agtech companies, The Yield does not sell its sensors, but provides them as part of a subscription package offered to farmers that includes hardware, apps, and access to the company’s analytics platform, according to Agfunder. This means that sensor calibration, maintenance, and service is conducted by The Yield; removing that onus from the shoulders of farmers.

With not only fresh capital at hand, but access to collaboration with world-class Bosch engineers, insight from KPMG, and Agfunder’s global platform, The Yield is well positioned to move on the global agtech stage.

The company plans to use the funding from this round to support its planned expansion throughout Australia in the second half of 2017, accelerate new product development, and expand its applications across sectors and geographies, into the West Coast of the U.S. where it is targeting customers involved in the cultivation of irrigated crops.

“Developed and proven in harsh aquatic environments, the accuracy and reliability of The Yield’s technology and simple delivery of useful data is the perfect platform for producers of all types of high value crops such as nuts and berries,” said Michael Dean, co-founder and CIO of Agfunder.  “We are delighted to be an early stage investor in The Yield, and look forward to utilising [sic] our global network to assist with its development and expansion internationally,” Dean said.

-Lynda Kiernan

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.