Israel’s Agtech company, SupPlant, a developer of sensorless irrigation technology announced it secured a $10 million funding round co-led by Menomadin Foundation, Mivtah Shamir, Boresight Capital, and Smart-Agro Fund. The investment increases SupPlants’s total funding to more than $19 million since it was founded in 2012.
SupPlant developed an irrigation technology that is sensorless and relies on real data collection and processing of intelligent algorithms to generate precise irrigation plans. SupPlant uploads real-time data from weather, plant, and soil sensors to an algorithm in the cloud which provides precise recommendations to farmers.
The system provides irrigation solutions at low cost without the need for larger capital investments in hardware on the ground which enables small growers to benefit from an irrigation strategy that is adaptable, the company indicates. The company’s technology aims to address the global impact of global warming on smallholder farmers and is designed for 450 million small growers globally, as 76% of farmers grow crops less than 2 hectares.
SupPlant says in 2020 its technology grew by 1,200 % and its system is used widely in South Africa, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina. The company projects that by September 2021 its technology to be implemented by 50,000 farmers in Kenya, Africa. It also envisions that more than 2 million small growers in India and Africa will be on board as well.
The CEO of the company, Ori Ben Ner stated that “fresh funds will enable the company to quicken the implementation of our new development a fully sensor less industry-defining irrigation regime.”
He emphasized that the tech is “developed for the vast majority of farmers globally smallholder farmers who cannot afford to access unique knowledge and hardware intense technology.”
Jeffrey Swartz, a partner at Boresight, said “SupPlant’s solution is a concrete example of how technology can enhance our world, providing actionable insight farmers can turn into smart irrigation decisions, by talking with the plants that produce our foods.”
