April 28, 2021

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Singapore’s Temasek, Chinese agrifood tech VC Bits x Bites, and CITIC have led a $30 million Series C for Chinese agricultural drone technology company EAVision Technologies.

Also participating in the round were a range of global investors, including Germany-based BASF, U.S.-based Continental Grain Company, China-based fresh fruit retailer Pagoda, as well as Suzhou Oriza Holdings, Zhidao Capital, Songshan Capital, and Yongxin Oriental.

As a smart robotics company EAVision is a technology leader in computer vision for autonomous crop protection – particularly for farming in mountainous or other complex terrains.

“EAVision’s technology foundation helps bring targeted and precise farm management to vast, industrial-scale operations. We look forward to seeing the company advance its talent, technology and application roadmap and partnerships to achieve sustainable growth,” said Shi Liang, chairman, CITIC Agri Fund.

Adoption of drone technology in China has been on a constant and steady increase, according to China’s Department of Agriculture (DOA), which noted that the number of registered agricultural drones in the country has jumped from 2,324 in 2015 to about 13,000 in 2017 – and by 2020 the DOA expected that registered drones would number 40,000.

IPSOS outlines a number of drivers behind this growth in adoption in China in a recent report, China’s Agricultural Drone Revolution, noting that the mitigation of health risks from airborne chemicals, reduction in operating costs, increase yields, higher revenue, greater sustainability, the ability for technology to help the country’s aging farmer population, and the ability to support farming in fragmented or challenging terrains are all driving greater adoption of drones by China’s farming operations. 

Developed by a team of experts, including former chiefs in autopiloting control and safety at Tesla and imaging detecting system design for the Chinese national railway information system, the core of EAVision’s technology is an exception combination of stereo vision sensors and algorithms enabling its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to navigate challenging environments.

These conditions are widely present in China where mountainous farming accounts for 34 percent of its cultivated land growing a vast variety of nuts, fruits, and tea. Now, EAVision’s platform makes it possible for farmers in these locations to benefit from potential  productivity gains despite geographical constraints that had impeded them in the past.

“UAVs are uniquely suited for China as its geographical characteristics make fixed-wing aircrafts or similarly large land-based machinery popular in the west less relevant,” said Joseph Zhou, managing partner, Bits x Bites. “This lends an opportunity for technological innovators like EAVision to cater solutions for these farmers to grow more with less, safely and cost effectively. We are excited to work with the team to bring these benefits to growers across China and beyond.”

When used over hilly areas, or when dealing with mixed tree crop vegetation with complicated gradients, EAVision’s UAVs are exceptionally stable, using superior object detection for safe navigation.

The company’s UAVs also offer patented mist sprinklers that enable the vehicles to operate as close as one meter from the crown of vegetation for targeted input application. Together, this stack of precise abilities significantly reduces missed-target drifting, improving producer wellbeing, and fostering sustainability goals. 

EAVision’s technology has been proven in field applications across China, including on mountainous fruit farms where the difference in tree heights could be as much as 10 meters. Additionally, on a sugarcane farm in Southwest China EAVision maintained steady output at a rate 50 times faster compared to traditional farm workers, while sugar content was boosted by 3 percent. Likewise, on a citrus farm in Guangxi province, EAVision’s technology showed a 90 percent improvement over traditional labor teams in preventing spider mites. 

“EAVision has developed an innovative and highly sophisticated technology that has the potential to significantly improve efficiency in the application of crop protection products,” said Markus Solibieda, managing director, BASF Venture Capital GmbH. “We want to help them to develop their technology even further. This engagement reflects BASF’s commitment to sustainability and to the fast-growing innovative markets in Asia.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.