Switzerland-based xFarm Technologies, a startup that focuses on the development of SaaS solutions for agriculture, announced on Friday (August 5) that it has raised €17M in a Series B round of funding.
xFarm claims that this is one of Europe’s largest Series B funding rounds in the agritech sector. Prior to this round, the company raised €3M in a Series A round in 2019.
Investors in this round
The investment was led by Zurich-based Swisscom Ventures, with participation from Neva SGR (Intesa Sanpaolo Group), Emerald Technology Ventures, NovaCapital, and Grey Silo Ventures. xFarm’s lead investor of the Series A round, United Ventures, also participated in the round.
Alexander Schlaepfer, a partner at Swisscom Ventures and a new member of xFarm’s board, says, “Digital platforms combined with the internet of things are fundamentally altering farming. The next wave of adoption is creating the foundation for producing more sustainably while coping with the challenges of climate change. We were captivated by the profound domain expertise of the founding team, impressed by the quality of customers in the food and agri-machinery sectors that have quickly integrated the product into their operations, and are excited to partner with the company.”
Capital utilisation
xFarm says that it will use the funds to build and enhance its platform with new features to help farmers with sustainability measures on the farm and collaborate with other supply chains, such as livestock management, through technology like artificial intelligence (AI). Using decision support systems (DSS), agricultural inputs such as water, fertiliser, and plant protection products can be optimised.
CEO of xFarm, Matteo Vanotti, says, “xFarm Technologies aims to be a key player in this fast-evolving market to improve the lives of millions of farmers through digitalisation, seeking greater efficiency and sustainability.”
xFarm Technologies will also utilise the capital in developing more effective solutions and support farmers in adapting to climate change.
With headquarters in Switzerland and branches in Italy and Spain, the company aims to expand in Europe as well as to new markets, including the Americas.
Helping farmers enter into digital farming
Founded in 2017 by Matteo Vanotti, Martino Poretti, and Salvatore Ferullo, xFarm Technologies uses in-field sensors to provide farmers and other agricultural enterprises with a platform that gathers and analyses data from all across the farm. This data includes information on pests, weed growth, irrigation requirements, and financial issues, to name a few.
The company says, “Our aim is to create a unique platform to help farmers in their work in a simple and visual manner. We believe that technology must help farms, save time and allow them to focus on what is really important: filling the plates of billions of people!”
CEO Matteo Vanotti adds, “The strength of xFarm Technologies is its highly innovative nature, which allows us to manage the complex needs of farmers, machinery manufacturers and all the stakeholders in the supply chain through digitalisation. Now more than ever it is crucial for farms to simplify processes and make them more efficient to meet growing challenges.”
The company says it supports and simplifies the work of 110,000 farms spread over 1.5 million hectares in more than 100 countries globally via its proprietary platform. It works with more than 70 top-tier players, such as leading agri-food firms and machinery manufacturing groups, and it hopes to advance these initiatives internationally.
To achieve its milestones and to help more farms and supply chains make their work more efficient, xFarm says it will scale its team from 60 to 80 employees by the end of this year.
