August 21, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

Smart farming startup CropX announced it has raised $10 million in funding from new investors Sumitomo, Armada Capital and Tal Capital, who joined existing investors, Finistere Ventures, Germin8 Ventures, GreenSoil Investments, Innovation Endeavors and OurCrowd in the round. 

Other past investors in the company include  ICL, Lab IX (the Flex technology accelerator), and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC).

The company raised a $9 million Series A in 2015 led by Finistere Ventures and including  Innovation Endeavors, GreenSoil Investments, and early CropX backer, OurCrowd. The following year, this round was extended to $10 million to accommodate further investment interest from RBVC) and the Flex technology accelerator, Lab IX.

With offices in both Tel Aviv and San Francisco, CropX integrates the full range of farm data insight channels – satellite, weather, crop modeling, topographical data, scalable soil sensing technology, and cloud-based agricultural analytics, with top irrigation systems to give farmers unprecedented insights into their operation, both above, and below ground. 

“A precise understanding of what is happening within the soil is critical for crop health and farm profitability, and we combine that soil intelligence with other key data points to deliver easily actionable insights for the farmer,” said Tomer Tzach, CEO, CropX.

The company states that it plans to use this latest backing to support continued growth and the expansion of its revolutionary farm management platform, which is already used by the world’s top farmers, irrigation, seed, and fertilizer companies. 

New Leadership

Concurrently, CropX also announced that it has officially welcomed John Vikupitz, former CEO of the U.S. unit of Israeli drip-irrigation company Netafim, to its team as president. In this role, Vikupitz will lead the company’s global expansion, with a focus on accelerating market adoption for the platform, which is the first of its kind to integrate in-soil data insights at scale. 

After 10 years as president and CEO of Netafim, USA, (the largest subsidiary of the global leader of precision irrigation) Vikupitz brings a wealth of industry experience. During his tenure with Netafim, he managed a team of 300 employees, significantly grew the business, and developed a pioneering recycled plastic solution for the industry. He also held a range of sales and marketing leadership roles, including director of marketing. 

Earlier in his career, Vilupitz was sales and facility manager for SPX Valve & Controls after earning an agricultural engineering degree from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona, and continuing his education at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. 

“CropX provides unrivalled insight based on in-soil data and is setting the standard for technologies that are simple and scalable so farmers can make an immediate, substantial impact on their bottom line,” said Vikupitz. 

“I look forward to my new leadership role as part of the CropX team to change how growers around the globe access and use intelligence from below the ground to cultivate more sustainable, productive and profitable farming enterprises.”

CropX CEO, Tomer Tzach added, “We look forward to tapping the expertise of John Vikupitz, our investors and new strategic partners as we drive the modernization of in-soil insights like satellite imagery transformed above-soil insights in years past.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.