July 24, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Agtech startups have proven to be the rainmakers in the current dealmaking environment, including Boston-based Farmblox. The company is behind a farm automation system and just raised $2.5 million in a seed round to bring AI and automation to North American farms. Farmblox connects equipment and in-field sensors to the internet, allowing farmers to view everything from their mobile device or computer and respond accordingly. The oversubscribed nature of the latest funding round, led by native Boston VC firm Hyperplane, is a reflection of demand for agtech innovation. Other participants in the fundraising included Slow Ventures, MHS Capital, and Service Provider Capital.

Farmblox CEO and Co-Founder Nathan Rosenberg told GAI: “Our successful, oversubscribed funding round in an otherwise challenging fundraising environment highlights the strong demand for Farmblox and the unique approach we take in building tools for farmers. We are excited to expand our reach into new regions such as vineyards and orchards, where our technology addresses pressing issues such as labor shortages.”

Farmblox, which launched in early 2023, plans to direct the proceeds toward an expansion push and to gain scale in new markets such as vineyards and orchards. After getting its start detecting leaks in tubes on maple syrup farms, the company has set its sights on monitoring irrigation systems in vineyards to combat water scarcity issues, which diminish food production and cause major financial losses to the ag industry.

According to FEMA, drought and riverine flooding cost the West and Midwestern ag industry $2 billion in annual losses. Meanwhile, excess water came with a price tag of $10 billion in damages to the U.S. corn crop in the nearly three decades leading up to 2016.

In the year and a half since its inception, Farmblox has been growing at a brisk pace, amassing 55 live farm customers covering more than 14,000 acres across the United States and Canada. The startup’s farm automation platform has grown tenfold in the last year as growers integrate the technology to combat the everyday challenges they face that threaten to thwart the global food supply. Among the customers using Farmblox’s solutions today include Vermont’s Goodrich Maple Farm, an industry leader, and Baird Farm, which specializes in organic maple syrup, the company shared.

True to its name, Farmblox’s ecosystem revolves around farm automation building blocks, which allow growers to build tailored automation solutions that meet their needs. There also are plug-and-play sensors and controllers, all of which are connected to a universal monitor box that in turn is linked to the Farmblox base station network, delivering WiFi even in the most remote of locations and ensuring growers stay in control with a real-time view into their operations.

In their announcement, Farmblox’s management team described how U.S. growers devote most of their time to walking the farm to identify any potential problems, costing the industry $17.5 billion in labor expenses. Farmblox’s tech-based platform comprises a sensor ecosystem and AI, a solution that slashes labor costs by as much as 50 percent while creating additional revenue streams for modern farming.

This issue is near and dear to the heart of Farmblox chief Rosenberg, who stated, “Farmblox’s mission is to develop a practical farm-scale digital platform for producers to reduce labor by helping them automate their farm however they need with simple, customizable tools. We focus on immediate real-world benefits to farmers who are hard hit by labor shortages.”

Hyperplane Founding and Managing Partner Vivjan Mytro stated, “At Hyperplane, we are thrilled to support Farmblox in its mission to revolutionize agriculture and transform how millions of farmers worldwide operate. Their adoption by farmers across the U.S. and Canada is a testament to the team’s tenacity and unique approach to addressing the most critical challenges in modern agriculture. Farmblox tackles labor issues and water scarcity head-on and enhances monitoring and sustainability practices, which are vital for our planet’s future.”

Hyperplane is no stranger to the agtech sector. In addition to Farmblox, the VC firm was an early backer of Greeneye Technology, an Israeli startup that uses AI and deep learning technology to transform pest control processes in the ag industry with precision spraying. Hyperplane originally backed Greeneye in 2018 and stuck around for more. Meanwhile, Greeneye recently debuted its first dedicated dealership in Nebraska as part of a wider U.S. expansion.

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