TeleSense, an agtech startup that provides wireless monitoring for grain and food production, today announced it has raised a $6.5 million Series A round of funding led by Finistere Ventures. Congruent Ventures, Maersk Growth, Rabobank’s Food & Agri Innovation Fund, Radicle Growth and Trailhead Capital, as well as previous investor Plug and Play Ventures also joined the round.
TeleSense is basically an industrial internet of things (IoT) company that uses a combination of wireless sensors and data tracking to help improve the food supply chain. TeleSense is initially focusing on grain storage and food transport, with its sensors continuously monitoring elements such as temperature and humidity. Using TeleSense’s cloud-based analytics platform, food producers can detect and be notified of anomalies or other problems early, and take action to prevent food spoilage. The company says that it has already helped its customers save $3 million dollars worth of grains.
According to the press announcement, TeleSense will use its new funding to invest in research and development of its GrainSafe artificial intelligence platform and build out channels for international expansion.
We’ve covered a lot of farm IoT startups over the past year as there is a huge rush towards giving farmers and other food producers data-driven insights into their operations. Companies like Teralytic and Arable analyze soil and crop conditions, while Connecterra keeps track of cows. The danger with all these data platforms and a potential challenge for TeleSense is vendor fatigue. Farmers want to farm, not implement multiple platforms and analyze millions of data points.
But TeleSense’s transport monitoring technology is also working to help improve the supply chain, an area which is also seeing a lot of action. Companies like AgShift, Zest Labs, and Apeel are all bringing new technologies to market to help reduce food waste.
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