July 17, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

One agtech startup has just moved closer to its vision of improving the lives of coconut growers around the world. Permia Sensing, a London-based company whose agriculture and monitoring solutions detect Red Palm Weevil (RPW) larvae growing in coconut palm trees, has raised £150,000 (US$195,041) from the British Design Fund, the proceeds of which will be directed toward an artificial-intelligence(AI)-powered palm farming solution. Founded in 2022, Permia Sensing’s fundraising tally is now £400,000 (US$520,072) across two rounds, the first £250,000 (US$325,068) of which was pre-seed and led by Jenson Funding Partners in Q1 2023.

Permia Sensing CEO Efrem de Paiva explained that the fresh capital would support the deployment of the company’s technology, leading to growth in key markets, stating: “Palm trees provide a source of income for millions of farmers globally, significantly contributing to rural development by creating employment opportunities and improving infrastructure in remote areas. With our technology, we aim to help farmers generate the most sustainable yield from their plantations.”

British Design Fund CEO Damon Bonser said, “Something that really stood out about Permia Sensing was the depth of skill and experience within the team. The company has developed technology and solutions that have the potential to increase farming efficiency and yield, positively impacting rural communities, where disease and poor tree health can have a devastating effect.”

As an Imperial College of London spinout, Permia Sensing’s mission is to overhaul the way palm plantations are run through innovative farming techniques fortified with IoT, AI, sensors and robotics technology. The startup offers field testing services to detect RPW larvae that have attached themselves to coconut palm trees, targeting palm tissue and weakening trunks. These weevils damage roughly 10 percent of the world’s coconut yield, costing the industry approximately £450 million (US$585 million) each year.

Permia Sensing’s acoustic sensor and AI technologies are able to detect the sounds originating from the weevils, in response to which coconut growers are notified on their mobile app, thereby offering a potential solution to the crisis.

While chemical treatments may be effective, that’s only if the RPW are discovered in the early months of the infestation process. Permia Sensing, which field tested its IoT technology at Imperial College London’s Morph Lab of Dyson School of Design Engineering, takes a less toxic approach, harnessing precision farming techniques to bolster yields thanks to sensors with a 97 percent accuracy rate for the early detection of insect pests. The startup is pilot testing its agritech solutions at palm plantations in Sri Lanka and is focused on expanding its footprint in the tropics.

Palm plantations are an integral part of global agriculture, owing to their production of products like oil, coconuts and dates. In fact, palm oil is used in roughly 50 percent of the U.S. packaged goods market, including products like cosmetics, apparel, furniture, etc. Palm is an especially attractive option due to the efficient way in which it’s grown, requiring a fraction of the land to yield oil compared with other crops, like soybeans and sunflower. Palm is responsible for producing 40 percent of the world’s vegetable oil while taking roughly 6 percent of the land. Nevertheless, palm plantations are only delivering about half of their potential yield, owing to problems like disease and malnutrition.

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