Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Arable

Arable Raises $20 Million Series B Round For Agriculture Data Collection Tools

Arable, which makes tools that collect and synthesize agricultural data, announced today that it raised $20 million in its Series B funding round. This round was led by San Francisco-based Prelude Venture Capital, and brings the company’s total funding to $38 million.

I spoke with the CEO of Arable, Jim Ethington, on the phone this week, and he said the company will use the new funding to expand globally and increase its teams in Brazil, Chile, and the U.S. Additionally, the funding will be used to continue the company’s efforts in R&D, including new undisclosed projects.

Arable’s proprietary tech is called the Arable Mark 2, which is essentially a frisbee-shaped disc with several sensors that attaches to a pole. This hardware can be set up by a farmer in as little as 5 minutes. The sensor is able to monitor important metrics like rainfall, humidity, soil moisture, plant temperature, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, and chlorophyll index to name a few. After this data is collected, a farmer can go onto Arable’s app to check these metrics. Additionally, the app can be set to send notifications for any information collected that is important or out of the ordinary.

There are a few other Agtech companies besides Arable focusing on using unique techniques for data collection. Hawaiian-based Sensei Ag has built a 10,000 sq.ft. greenhouse, and uses an AI platform to collect crop data and implement an algorithm for growing practices. InnerPlant recently launched its first sensor plant (a tomato plant) that is fed a particular protein, and using a camera with augmented reality, the plants appear to be a different color when stressed, under attack from pests, or dehydrated.

The Arable Mark 2 and the system that comes along with it start at $850 a year. This subscription includes the hardware, the app, service, and support.

Arable Launches New Mark 2 Sensor to Monitor Climate and Plant Conditions on Farms

Agtech company Arable today announced a new version of its sensor along with a suite of tools to help farmers and food producers monitor and collect data about soil and weather conditions on their land.

At the heart of Arable’s solution is its new Mark 2, the second generation of its solar-powered, connected sensor. Once installed, the Mark 2 sits above the plant canopy and measures 40 different elements like rain, solar radiation, canopy cover, crop water demand, and environmental stresses.

The Mark 2 can be used as part of the company’s new Arable Forecasting product, also announced today. Arable Forecasting combines data from the Mark 2 with third-party weather data and machine learning to provide hyperlocal weather forecasting. This means growers can monitor micro-climates across vast grow areas, and take specific actions on a more granular level.

Arable: Decision Agriculture

Along with the new sensor and Arable Forecasting, the company also announced:

  • Arable Bridge, which integrates data from auxiliary sensors like soil moisture probes, pressure switches and wind speed monitors into the Mark 2.
  • Arable Open, an open-source API for external platform interoperability.
  • Arable Mobile, a cloud-based platform for crop consultants, farmers and food processors.

Arable is among a number of startups promising to deliver more precise, data-driven agriculture. Other players in the space include CropX, a soil sensor company that acquired irrigation management tool company CropMetrics earlier this year; Terralytic, a soil sensor that monitors nitrogen, phosphate and potassium; and Taranis, which uses aerial imagery to detect crop stresses.

Arable’s Mark 2 is already available to order on the company’s website for $1,595 plus a $699 per year subscription. According to today’s press announcement, Arable has been used in 37 countries across six continents by companies like BASF, Netafim, and Treasury Wine Estates.

CropX Makes Soil Sensors to Measure Moisture, Gets Investment from ICL

Though CropX’s soil moisture measuring sensors are prominently displayed as the main product on the company’s homepage, CropX CEO Tomer Tzach’s ambitions are much bigger. “We want to be the Nest of agriculture,” Tzach told me, referring to the smart home thermostat company that Google bought for $3.2 billion in 2014.

Just as Nest thermostats provided Google with valuable data, CropX sensors are a gateway for valuable agricultural insights.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, CropX makes sensors that farmers can literally screw into the ground, making for super easy self-installation. According to Tzach, the screw-like shape of CropX actually makes their product better than other soil sensors on the market. The sensors are embedded along the “threads” protruding from the shaft of the device embedded in the soil. Because of this placement, water can pass through the sensor. Tzach says other sensors are just tubes that go straight into the ground, and the narrower footprint creates a less accurate reading.

On average, one CropX sensor can cover 40 acres, and using topographic and USDA data, the company can tell a farmer the optimal spots to plant their sensors. Once installed, each sensor communicates via cellular networks directly with the CropX software in the cloud, which analyzes the sensor’s readings. Farmers download a smartphone app and receive notifications about field conditions so they can maintain optimal soil moisture levels.

The sensors also measure temperature and electroconductivity in the soil to determine salinity levels, which can help farmers with nutrient management and fertilizer application.

The result of all this monitoring, according to CropX, is healthier crops and improved yields for farms.

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. Tzach wouldn’t go into specifics but said that eventually, the company will be able to “provide significant data to other industries and geographies.”

Perhaps pointing to one such industry, just yesterday it was announced that ICL, a global fertilizer company, made an investment in and formed a strategic partnership with CropX. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

CropX does have some competition; there are quite a few sensors options and data generating platforms currently available to farmers. Teralytic‘s soil sensors help farmers manage fertilizer use (and monitor moisture), and Arable‘s Mark packs in 40 sensors to monitor moisture, ambient temperatures and more.

This raises the question, how many sensors and accompanying dashboards does a farmer need–or want? Pretty soon we’ll get the data on that.

Teralytic Sensors Help Farmers Manage Their Fertilizing

“Nanofabrication” is probably not the first word that comes to mind when you think of farming or agriculture. But it’s how Teralytic builds a wireless sensor that detects nitrogen, phosphate and potassium (NPK) levels in soil to help farmers reduce waste and improve their yields.

The Teralytic sensor is a battery-powered, meter long device that farmers stick in the ground. Packed inside are 26 different sensors that measure the surrounding soil’s NPK levels, pH levels, soil moisture, temperature, and aeration, as well as the temperature and humidity above ground.

Once set, the sensors take a snapshot of soil conditions every fifteen minutes and use LoRa wireless technology to broadcast data back to a base station and through to an online analytics dashboard. Teralytic Founder and CEO Steven Ridder notes that technology has provided farmers with tons of data, and “The challenge for farmers is that too much information has confused them more than helped them.” Ridder says Teralytic’s stripped down dashboard has a more “farmer friendly interface.”

Armed with this data, farmers can be more efficient with their inputs (like fertilizer) and generate better crop yields. Optimizing fertilizer can also help farmers reduce cost and avoid over-fertilization, thus reducing excess fertilizer runoff and greenhouse gas release.

Teralytic sensors also measure soil moisture levels, which can help farmers with water management and prevent overwatering. Ridder says this improved moisture data can also help farmers make better-informed sales decisions. As he describes it, non-irrigated Midwest crops are planted in May and farmers typically check their soils in July. During that check, farmers may note that surface soil is dry. Historically, they wouldn’t be able to see that, down by the roots, moisture levels were actually fine. But because they didn’t have accurate data, Ridder says farmers had a tendency to panic about crop yields and settle for a lower locked in price before the harvest.

Each Teralytic sensor costs $100, plus a per acre charge. The number of sensors required depends on the type of crop grown. Ridder told me “Strawberries and avocados will need a sensor every 2.5 – 10 acres. Most grain crops will need a sensor every 30 – 50 acres. Cotton and canola need one every 50 – 70 acres.” The company has an online tool to help farmers determine the number of sensors needed.

Teralytic isn’t alone in bringing robust data to farms. Arable has developed the Mark sensor, which includes acoustic and spectrometer measuring, and can be sent placed in fields to assist with crop management.

What sets Teralytic apart, says Ridder, is his company’s focus on soil measurements and NPK. Teralytics says it offers “the world’s first wireless NPK sensor.” The company has eight Ph.D.’s developing the product, split between New York City and the UC Berkeley nanofabrication lab, who are creating the proprietary chipset that powers Teralytic’s sensors. They’re so secret that Ridder wouldn’t talk about them.

Teralytic launched a year and a half ago and raised a $2.25 million seed round in August of last year. It has conducted pilot projects in California and Ridder says they have 150 additional clients that want to conduct their own pilot programs starting in April. The company will officially debut on March 20th.