June 5, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

IntelliCulture, an equipment management software platform for specialty and high-value crops, has secured $3.5 million in new funding led by Serra Ventures and including Emmertech and Tall Grass Ventures. 

Regulatory and environmental pressures continue to mount for growers, but especially for those producing high-value crops. However, IntelliCulture noted that technology can play a critical role in helping the industry as long as it’s rooted in positive ROI. 

The company provides a universal plug-and-play device that connects into any piece of farm machinery that then can report on spray effectiveness, equipment health, and block-level cost accounting. It is also able to digitize task planning and warns of overdue or inefficient work, ensuring the optimization of labor and minimizing downtime. 

“Machine-learning engines for insights and recommendations let IntelliCulture do the number crunching for our farms in ways that historically have never been possible,” said Cole Powers, CEO, IntelliCulture.

“The savings of our growers have been substantial already, and we can’t wait to drive even higher ROI through this investment.”

A specific area of focus for the company is in the safety and compliance space, explaining that re-entry intervals and spray confidence are only getting more complex and there is a lack of tools available to growers to help manage their operations. 

In response, IntelliCulture has released groundbreaking features for the 2024 growing season to effectively manage these critical items on the farm, adding that they will continue to evolve its product to address the most pressing industry needs.

“We are not shy to share the calculators of how we will get our growers a return through the platform. In fact we encourage it and we are in a fortunate position to have so many case studies with industry leading growers,” said Powers.

“At the end of the day, that’s our vision; to create a platform that empowers growers to make quicker, easier decisions, and to share their best practices with one another…. that’s how growth happens, through a genuine desire to be of service and do good work,” continued Powers.

“We are grateful for the partners in Serra, Emmertech, and Tallgrass who are supportive in this mission, and cannot begin to express our appreciation for the continued trust and support from our growers.”

Leading this round was Serra Ventures, a VC firm focused on companies that have deep technology that solves industry-specific challenges. Tim Hoerr, CEO, Serra Ventures, who as part of this round will join the IntelliCulture Board of Directors, commented, “We have known the IntelliCulture team for over three years, having first intersected when the company participated in the Illinois Ag Tech Accelerator in 2021. Since that time, IntelliCulture has made remarkable progress because they’re delivering a powerful solution that solves real pain points in production agriculture. Customers are delighted, and for us as investors, that’s the bottom line!”

IntelliCulture stated that the capital gained through this round will primarily be used for growing its team, as expansion continues apace in both North America and internationally. It also will continue to drive its R&D and product evolution in areas of new development, and the acceleration of critical product milestones.

Kyle Scott, managing partner at Emmertech and a director of the company, said, “The IntelliCulture team has differentiated itself with a relentless focus on both execution and grower ROI. Emmertech is proud to be a part of this exciting agtech story and we look forward to a bright future for the company.”

While Chris Edwards, managing partner, Tall Grass Ventures, a Canadian venture firm focused on exclusively investing in the future of food and agriculture, also noted how the IntelliCulture team sets the company apart. 

“We are very impressed with this group,” said Edwards. “We see a rare mix of pragmatism, technical know-how, and passion all backed by real results. The decision was an easy one to join IntelliCulture’s family of investors.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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