August 3, 2016

Slantrange, a leading provider of next-generation agricultural drone technology and analytics systems announced new distribution partnerships that will expand the company’s geographic reach to five continents.

The announcement of the partnerships in the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, the UK, Panama, and Colombia comes less than three months after the company closed a $5 million Series A round of fundraising from a consortium of investors led by San Diego-based investment firm, The Investment Group.

“Until now, farmers in regions of the world with limited internet connectivity or without expensive computing resources have been unable to benefit from many of the recent advances in digital agriculture,” said Mike Ritter, CEO of Slantrange in a company statement. “Our technology eliminates those needs, and our new partners are extending its reach to growers around the world who can most benefit from its use.”

Founded in 2013 by CEO, Mike Ritter and VP of Engineering, Mike Milton, Slantrange provides sensors and analytic systems for use on drones that can measure crop and weed densities, crop stress from pests, dehydration, and nutritional deficiencies to help farmers make more informed production decisions for better-resulting yields and lower costs. Calibrated with an on-board ambient sunlight spectrometer, Slantrange’s technology provides more accurate information over the course of a single or even multiple growing seasons at a data collection rate that is four times faster than other drone or sensor technologies. In addition, unlike other conventional mapping, Slantrange’s technology requires only a 20% overlap, translating to four times more land covered per flight.

“This is extremely important for our clients, who are often service providers looking to maximize their area coverage per day”, said Markus Weber, President of LandView, SLANTRANGE’s distributor in Edmonton, Alberta.

Demand for drone technology within the ag sector is on pace to see a significant increase in coming years. Consumer demands for increased transparency within the food chain is expected to translate to a booming market for drones, sensors, and related technologies according to a recent report from RnR Market Research reports AgWeb.

“Consumers want to know where their food came from, how much water and chemicals were used, and when and how the food was harvested.   They want to know about consistent refrigeration during transport,” said Susan Eustis, lead author of the study.

This trend is expected to push the value of the global agricultural drone market from a current $494 million to $3.69 billion by 2022.

“Technology is transforming agriculture, and drones represent a key part of that change,” said Sheldon Lewis, the lead Series A investor in a recent press release. “They’re creating a critical new market to help farmers feed a growing world.”

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Lynda Kiernan