November 20, 2018

By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, GAI Media

One-third of the food we eat has the tiny honeybee to thank for its origins, as bees are the pollinators that trigger the growth mechanism in many protein-dense foods, like mangoes, avocados, and nuts and berries. But that fragile food chain, which includes 91 million managed hives worldwide, is now threatened by disease, pests, and hive collapse.

Enter Irish agtech innovator ApisProtect [Apis is the Latin word for bee] which steadfast in its mission to save this part of the world’s food supply by protecting the bee population. It’s a bold but critical goal, and with the company’s announcement today of a $1.8 million seed round, the plan for aggressive global deployment can move forward.

Founded by preeminent researchers, including CEO Dr. Fiona Edwards Murphy, ApisProtect uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor honeybee colonies via real-time hive monitoring powered by satellite-enabled sensors that are retrofitted to existing beehives. The company then applies proprietary big data and machine learning techniques to convert the raw data collected into valuable information and actionable insights for beekeepers. The technology is currently used to monitor over six million honeybees in hives across Europe and North America, and the company is making connections daily with departments of agriculture, beekeeping organizations, and food suppliers all over the world.

Recognized by many for its work – they have received awards from the Irish Research Council, The IEEE, IBM, The Irish Laboratory Awards, Google, and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit – ApisProtect was an emerging company that presented at the AgTech Nexus 2017 Start-Up Hub in Dublin. This opportunity introduced ApisProtect to the investors that enabled today’s announcement of financing, which was co-led by top-tier venture capital investors Finistere Ventures and Atlantic Bridge Capital, and included Radicle Growth, the Yield Lab, and Enterprise Ireland.

GAI News caught up with Edwards Murphy as she was on the brink of announcing this game-changing funding round.

1.     Your doctoral research in 2013 was in the application of sensors and networking in honeybee hives. How did this lead to the formation of ApisProtect?

During my PhD I published my research regularly, and began receiving recognition for my work in this area through awards and published articles. After a broadcast on national airwaves, there was huge demand from beekeepers to get involved with my PhD research. This was the first spark that lead me to think that IoT (Internet of Things) technology could have a major impact on commercial-scale beekeeping.

We have a really strong leadership team with a mix of engineering, science, beekeeping, and commercial backgrounds. We now have a team of seven and we look forward to growing the team with the help of this new investment.

2.     It is estimated that the world is losing up to 50 percent of its honeybees every year due to disease, pests, and hive problems. How will your technology help rectify this?

For the last 20 to 30 years, bees have been facing problems that they never experienced before in history. Our technology is helping the beekeeper apply the knowledge that they already have, but in a much more effective and controlled manner. Our ApisMonitor units use IoT technology, including in-hive sensors and long-range wireless communication, to monitor the health of honeybees.

Using this sensor data together with big data and machine learning techniques, we can provide actionable insights and alerts to help beekeepers prevent losses and increase productivity in their colonies.

This will enable commercial beekeepers to reduce their colony losses. For example, in the U.S. in 2015-2016, colony losses of up to 38 percent were reported. With our science-based technology, we can reduce these losses and help beekeepers manage the health of their colonies. We are already seeing interesting data coming through from our hives based in California, Delaware, St Louis, and Arizona.

3.     Congratulations on your first funding round! How will the $1.8 million be used to accelerate growth for the company?

This investment will allow us to roll out our technology across North America, Europe, and South Africa, enabling us to monitor more climates, bee sub-species, and bee foraging areas.

It is busy year for the team, traveling to all our host sites to install the ApisMonitor units, but it has been fascinating to meet with our hosts in various states across the U.S. and see the common problems that commercial beekeepers experience, and how we will be able to help them.

We also are opening our first U.S. office at the Western Growers Association’s WG Center for Innovation and Technology in Salinas, California, and will be growing our Cork office to a team of 25 over the next three years.

In the second quarter of 2019, we will be launching our first commercially available ApisMonitor revision. We look forward to working with our investors to get this on the market for beekeepers to ensure the health of their colonies for next winter.

4.     You have said that ApisProtect is going global by the end of 2018. What does the next stage of deployment look like?

At this stage, we have installed 144 of our ApisMonitor units across Ireland, the U.K., and North America and are now monitoring the health of over six million honeybees. We are heading to Florida next week to install another 50 ApisMonitor units, and then on to South Africa by the end of the year, so by the end of 2018 we will be monitoring close to 10 million honeybees across three continents.

As the data rolls in from all of these host sites, the machine learning algorithms will be continuously learning and enabling us to glean valuable insights that will help us continuously improve our offering and assist us in providing science-based insights to our hosts.

5.     Finistere Ventures and Atlantic Bridge – your two lead co-investors – have called ApisProtect a disruptor in the industry with huge potential for its robust technology. How will their guidance and expertise be funneled into your business?

Our investment partners offer deep knowledge of the pollination services market, as well as the agriculture and IoT technology sectors. This investment will allow us to accelerate our expansion as we work to create an extensive global hive health database to power our machine learning insights. The aim is to help commercial pollinators and growers to optimize pollination.

Our investors have a strong track record of supporting companies through key stages of development and helping them commercialize their technology globally through their networks.

They also are keenly aware that there is a need for technologies to aid pollination in agriculture, and that the ApisProtect in-hive technology has massive potential in key markets like California. We look forward to learning and working closely with our investors to bring our product to market.

-By Michelle Pelletier Marshall

Michelle Pelletier Marshall is the managing editor for Global AgInvesting’s quarterly GAI Gazette magazine and a regular contributor to GAI News. She can be reached at mmarshall@globalaginvesting.com.