CropX, a Tel-Aviv based soil analytics startup, announced today that it has raised $10 million in new funding (h/t Axios Pro Rata). According to the press announcement new investors include strategic partner Sumitomo Corporation Europe, Armada Investments and TaL Capital, which joined existing investors such as Finistere Ventures, Germin8 Ventures, GreenSoil Investments, Innovation Endeavors and OurCrowd. This brings the total amount raised by CropX to $22.9 million.
There are two components to the CropX product: a hardware sensor and cloud-based software. The CropX sensor is a screw-shaped device that farmers literally screw into the ground. This screw shape is actually one of the ways CropX differentiates itself in the soil analyzing space because the threads of the device give it more surface area than straight tube-shaped sensors. Placing sensors on the threads of a CropX allows water to pass through the sensor not just around it.
As water passes through these sensors, information is sent up to the cloud where CropX’s software analyzes the soil for moisture levels, temperature and electroconductivity to determine salinity levels. Results are sent to a mobile app where the farmer can better manage nutrient management and fertilizer application.
But the bigger play for CropX is data. As we wrote last year:
Sensors cost from $600 to $899 apiece and there is a $275 yearly subscription per sensor. Farmers own their own data, and anything CropX learns is anonymous and on an aggregate basis. But it’s these data insights that are the real play for CropX. [CropX CEO Tomar] Tzach wouldn’t go into specifics but said that eventually, the company will be able to “provide significant data to other industries and geographies.”
CropX is among a, well, crop of companies looking to give farmers greater insight into their dirt. Other players in the soil sensing space include Teralytic and Arable.
As part of today’s announcement, CropX also said that it has brought on John Vikupitz as its new president, where he will focus on scaling the company.
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