Nordetect, a Danish startup that provides portable nutrient testing for indoor and vertical farms, announced yesterday that it has raised a $1.5 million round of Seed funding. The round was led by Luminate NY with participation from Rockstart, SOSV (HAX), PreSeed Ventures and Vækstfonden (The Danish Growth Fund).
The company was founded in 2016 and makes a “lab-on-a-chip” testing device that can analyze agricultural samples for nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and more. Nordetect’s one-click device and test kits can test conducts multiple tests in a matter of minutes.
For indoor and controlled ag farms, Nordetect says that its test can help growers maintain and balance proper levels of nutrients, water and light for greater crop yields.
There are plenty of ag sensor companies helping farmers better understand their growing conditions. However, soil sensor companies like CropX, Arable and Teralytic are all built for outdoor use. Given the rush of funding that went into and the expansion of indoor farms last year, there will undoubtedly be a number of sensor solutions that come to market for the controlled ag space. With all of that increased funding and expansion, indoor ag companies will need to maximize their yield to prove out the promise of controlled agriculture
Last August, Nordetect’s technology won top honors (and €10,000) at agtech company Priva’s Horti Heroes challenge, which showcased innovative horticultural companies. In this week’s press announcement, Nordetect said that it will use its new funding to commercialize it technology platform and give indoor and vertical farmers in the U.S and Western Europe early access to its lab-on-a-chip analysis devices.
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