DuPont has joined a recently announced $18 million Series C round for terrestrial data acquisition and analysis company, PrecisionHawk. DuPont joins existing investors in the round, Intel Capital, Verizon Ventures, Yamaha Motor, USAA, NTT Docomo, Millennium Technology Value Partners and the Innovate Indiana Fund. This latest round will continue to support PresicionHawk’s R&D initiatives and the global expansion of DataMapper, its terrestrial data service and LATAS, its low-altitude drone safety infrastructure platform.
“We have learned a tremendous amount from all our ag clients,” Thomas Haun, vice president of strategy and globalization for PrecisionHawk told Triangle Business Journal. “To be able to bring one into the fold is an exciting opportunity for us.”
Compared to rivals Monsanto, Syngenta, and Bayer, DuPont has not been as active in agtech venture funding, however, PrecisionHawk has been supplying its tools and services to DuPont for a number of years in connection with DuPont’s Encirca decision services platform.
“The deepening of our relationship with PrecisionHawk is an important part of the Pioneer digital agriculture platform strategy, as well as our EncircaSM services offering,” said Neal Gutterson, DuPont Pioneer Vice President of Research & Development in a company statement. “Our goal is to provide growers valuable prediction-based product placement insights by incorporating elite genetics, agronomic management and environmental variation analysis into our already successful prediction-based breeding program.”
Financial terms of the backing were not released but DuPont’s commitment will be in addition to the already-raised $18 million says PrecisionHawk spokeswoman Lia Reich.
“Working with an influential client like DuPont, we immediately saw the value that has yet to be unlocked for aerial data analysis in agriculture,” said Christopher Dean, President of PrecisionHawk. “With investors now representing the agriculture, insurance, and telecommunication industries, PrecisionHawk is well positioned to understand the nuance that will help us create unique value for all of our commercial partners.”