Tel Aviv-based data and analytics startup, Prospera, announced it has raised a $7 million Series A led by Bessemer Ventures.
Founded in 2014 by CEO Daniel Koppel, CTO Shimon Shpiz, and VP R&D Raviv Itzhaky, Prospera is developing artificial intelligence tools that can solve agricultural challenges. By combining agronomy computer science, and machine learning the company measures and analyzes finite variables that affect crops in vineyards, orchards and greenhouses with the goal of improving crop yields while conserving natural resources.
The company will use the funds to support greater integration of artificial intelligence with precision farming and to bring this technology to a wider market of farmers.
“Recent breakthroughs in neural networks, combined with the commoditization of cloud computing and sensors, have made it possible for us to develop field-analytics solutions that predict and improve performance in a new and revolutionary way,” said Daniel Koppel, CEO and cofounder of Prospera.
Using in-field cameras and climactic sensors, Prospera can provide real-time actionable crop information to farmers, allowing growers to react in a timely manner to irrigation issues, pests, diseases, and nutrient problems. What sets Prospera apart from an increasingly crowded field, however, is the inclusion of visual data and the level of granularity it offers. Venture Beat reports that Prospera can offer data on a multi-crop, multi-field, or even down to a leaf-by-leaf basis.
“By comparison, companies working with drones or satellites are receiving delayed data (with operational work needed) as well as images with around 1-10 meters per pixel,” Koppel told Geektime. “This is very different from having cams on site. And companies working without images, only with climatic sensors, don’t have the ability to detect issues affecting plant growth and health that require visual analysis – the vast majority of pests, disease, etc.”
With a team of 30, Prospera’s technology is already being used in medium to large greenhouse operations across Europe, North America, and Israel, including suppliers of Walmart, Tecso, Aldi, and Sainsburys.
“Prospera is generating unique and proprietary data on crops at a level of granularity which never before existed in the agriculture world,” said Adam Fisher, at Bessemer Venture Partners, in a statement. “Combining this unique data with some of the best experts in computer vision, and machine learning has the potential to revolutionize the way we grow food”
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Lynda Kiernan