Greeneye Technology, an AgTech startup that offers an artificial intelligence-powered platform to help farmers detect and spray weeds in real-time, has raised a $7 million USD seed round.
Panache Ventures met Greeneye during its time at Techstars Montréal, and participated in the startup’s pre-seed round in 2018.
The round was led by Jerusalem Venture Partners, and saw participation from Montréal-based Panache Ventures, Techstars, 2B Angels, One Way Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital, and Syngenta Ventures. The new funds will be used to advance product research and development while expanding Greeneye’s strategic partnerships with sprayer manufacturers and other stakeholders.
Greeneye was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel by CEO Nadav Bocher in 2017. Bocher moved to Canada to participate in Techstars’ artificial intelligence accelerator in Montréal and has been based in the city for two years. The startup eventually opened an office in Montréal to lead business development.
The startup is developing a platform using artificial intelligence to detect and spray weeds in real-time. Greeneye said many farmers still spray their fields with a chemical-intensive treatment, without distinguishing between the crop, the bare soil, and the weeds, adding that this results in failed crops, that can significantly impact farmers.
“Our mission is to reduce the usage of chemicals that are being sprayed in agriculture, utilizing artificial intelligence to provide precise and targeted spraying in real-time, save money for farmers while increasing their productivity and profitability,” said Bocher.
“Our trials indicate that our technology reduces herbicide usage by 65 to 92 percent, which supports our mission to address these global agricultural challenges,” Bocher added.
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Greeneye plans to use the new funds to commercialize its technology, deepen its analytics capabilities, and expand to additional spraying applications. JVP partner Michal Drayman and managing director of Syngenta Ventures, Shubhang Shankar, have joined Greeneye’s board.
This is the second round for Greeneye that Panache Ventures has participated in. David Dufresne, partner at Panache Ventures, told BetaKit the firm met Greeneye during its time at Techstars Montréal, and participated in the startup’s pre-seed round in December 2018.
“I like that a proudly Canadian firm led the pre-seed round with a solid group of co-investors in what I hope will become an AgTech success story,” Dufresne told BetaKit.
Panache Ventures is a seed-stage VC firm with offices in Montréal and Calgary, created by Dufresne, Patrick Lor, Mike Cegelski, and Nicolas Bouchard. In September, the firm closed $58 million for its inaugural fund.
Bocher told BetaKit although he is the only member of the company based in Montréal, Greeneye is looking to hire additional employees in Montréal and maintain its presence in the city.
Image source Unsplash. Photo by Jed Owen.
