Amsterdam-based agtech startup Source.ag, which claims to accelerate access to fresh fruit and vegetables with AI-powered greenhouses, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $10M (approx €9M) in its Seed round of funding.
The funds will help the company accelerate its product development and expand commercial collaborations.
Investors in this round
The round was led by US-based Acre Venture Partners (their first European investment) with participation from MIT-affiliated E14 Fund, Astanor Ventures, and Dutch growers who utilise the company’s technology such as Agro Care, Rainbow Growers and Harvest House Cooperative.
Lucas Mann, Managing Partner at Acre, says, “Climate change is driving substantial scarcity and strains in our global food supply. As this accelerates in the coming years, we must find ways to scale efficient growing solutions that lighten the footprint of agriculture. Greenhouse agriculture is a proven and viable solution, but without innovation, demand will be impossible to meet. We believe Source.ag can play a vital role in driving its global scalability.”
AI-powered indoor farms
Founded in 2020 by Rien Kamman and Ernst van Bruggen, Source.ag believes that greenhouse agriculture is an answer to safer, reliable and climate-resilient food production. 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.
Rien Kamman says, “By combining plant models with machine learning techniques, we can simulate crop development in any environment. Our technology provides growers with advice on the optimal cultivation strategy and support to realise it. This is an important first step in our mission to deliver more healthy food to more people without breaking our planetary boundaries.”
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 company has already partnered with Dutch growers including Agro Care, one of the world’s largest tomato growers, to roll out the first version of the product.
CEO of Agro Care, Kees van Veen, says, “Source.ag has built an intelligent platform that provides unprecedented insights and instantly shows us crucial information that can make or break a season. The AI that they are developing has the potential to optimise for key factors that can help us get to more consistent results at scale.”
The company’s team of 30 people are said to be experienced engineers and plant scientists who have partnered with the world’s leading growers to build the sector’s ‘most’ advanced artificial intelligence.
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