FieldIn Raises $12M for Permanent and Specialty Crop Farming Management Platform

September 9, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

Israeli agtech startup FieldIn announced that it has successfully closed on $12 million in Series A funding led by Silicon Valley-based venture fund Zeev Ventures (managed by  Oren Zeev), and including Cavallo Ventures, the venture capital arm of Wilbur-Ellis; AgFunder; and existing investors Germin8 Ventures, Gal Ventures, and Terra Venture Partners. 

Founded in 2013 in Ramat-Yishai, Israel by entrepreneur Boaz Bachar, FieldIn is aiming to disrupt the $65 billion agricultural pesticide (AgPest) market through the use of artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics. Focusing on permanent and specialty crop operations, the startup uses IoT devices connected to its powerful analytics platform, to compute geospatial, chemical, biological, weather, and other parameters to provide  growers with unprecedented insight and control of their operation. 

This range of field data from tractors, machinery, and in-field sensors is easily accessed through a single user-friendly dashboard, where managers can gain actionable insight that improves planning, mitigates risks, and maximizes production across all activities. 

“We like Fieldin’s control center for a number of reasons,” said Amar Singh, director of strategic investments for Cavallo Ventures. “For example, as a grower, how do you know if the agronomic recommendation was carried out as written during a spray event? Whether it’s for spraying, harvesting, or other cultural practices, Fieldin provides the transparency that solidifies trust between a grower and agronomist. Now everyone has objective evidence about what has happened in the field.”

This funding follows upon $4 million in pre-Series A funding raised by the startup in January 2018 through a round co-led by Gla Ventures and Germin8 Ventures. 

At the time, the company stated that it was in the process of expanding into the major markets of the U.S., Africa, and Europe. Boaz Bachar, founder and CEO of FieldIn, said, “Our AgPest dataset has reached a critical-mass coverage that enables us to provide unique insights on crops, chemicals and geographies. We started our initial activities in Israel and expect to cover over 40 percent of the citrus and vine markets in 2018.”

In between these two rounds, FieldIn has seen rapid growth. Since the beginning of this year, the startup has seen revenue growth in excess of 300 percent, as customer adoption has increased among fruit, nut, and vegetable growers. Supporting this expansion were newly-forged contracts with major agricultural producers, including the largest producer of tree nuts in the world, “The Wonderful Company”, which oversees approximately 100,000 acres. The company also secured a strategic partnership with global crop protection solutions leader Adama and Kern Machinery, the largest John Deere dealer in the state of California.

“It’s been a big year for our company, covering more than 300,000 acres in California alone, and we’re just getting started,” said Fieldin COO and Co-Founder Iftach Birger. “We’ve been working tirelessly to launch new products before, after and even during the season for our growers. This harvest season, for example, we’re pushing new updates to our platform nearly every day to ensure our growers can optimize every piece of the harvesting process.”

Over the past year the startup has also opened a new office in Fresno, California, and won the 2019 AgFunder Innovation Award in the Farm Tech category for its smart harvesting and spraying technology.

“With the backing and experience of some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and commercial agriculture, this investment will allow us to put the pedal to the metal and ramp up our innovation and continue to lead the market in both adoption and results,” said Bachar. 

“This will allow us to get our data-driven tools in the hands of more growers and stakeholders throughout the supply chain, which will benefit everyone from the boots on the ground to the consumer, and all of the various partners they work with along the way. We look forward to seeing just how far we can take our technology.”

 

– 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.

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