Amsterdam-based Source.ag is an agtech startup that assists greenhouse farmers with AI. On Wednesday, February 22, the company announced that it has raised $23M (approximately €21.6M) in a Series A round of funding.
The round, led by Astanor Ventures, also includes investments from Acre Ventures Partners and several leading greenhouse operators in the Netherlands.
The announcement comes approximately one year after the company raised €9M in a seed round led by US-based Acre Venture Partners. It brings the total funding raised by the company to $35M (approximately €32.9 million) in less than two years.
Source.ag will use the funds to help growers operate efficiently using its AI technology to track and improve cultivation. Following the launch of its first product, Source Track, in 2022, the Dutch company intends to launch two new products — Source Cultivate and Source Control, in 2023.
The company says it will enable growers to simulate full seasons of crop growth, tailored to specific gene and crop varieties, to grow their crops in the best way possible.
The new funding will also help Source.ag expand its AI to support even more crop types and farming methods.
Source.ag: Empowering greenhouse farmers with AI
Founded in 2020 by Rien Kamman and Ernst van Bruggen, Source.ag believes greenhouse agriculture is an answer to safer, reliable, and climate-resilient food production.
“Our technology provides growers with real-time, highly tailored advice on how to optimally grow their crops, and we support them in running a successful growing operation,” says Rien Kamman, CEO and co-founder of Source.ag.
The company is developing technology to democratise access to sufficient fruit and vegetables through AI-powered greenhouses.
The company’s proprietary algorithms simulate plant behaviour to define and execute optimal cultivation strategies, taking into account millions of data points on climate, biology, and resources.
Source.ag claims that it produces up to 15 times higher yields and uses up to 20 times less water while reducing pollution and use of land.
The Dutch company has increased the number of users of its products tenfold in just 12 months, working with the world’s leading growers to increase vegetable yields in the face of the growing energy and climate crises.
The Investor
Founded in 2017, Astanor Ventures is an impact investor that backs entrepreneurs globally with scalable solutions that will create systemic change across the agrifood value chain, from soil to gut.
To date, the VC has backed 40+ impact-driven entrepreneurs across Europe, the US, and Australia.
Arnout Dijkhuizen, Investment Principal at Astanor Ventures says ‘’We have been genuinely impressed with the team’s mission and accomplishments since our Seed investment last year.”
He continues, “Focusing truly on where tech meets nature, Source.ag has succeeded where many have said it was impossible: cracking standardisation, data gathering, and plant phenotyping with AI models that can simulate plant biology and help to optimise photosynthesis.”
“More importantly, they are helping growers across the world operate their farms more efficiently, making greenhouse farming globally accessible and scalable, thereby democratizing access to fruit and vegetables,” concludes Dijkhuizen.
