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Big Moves
Updates from Bonsai Robotics, AISPRID, Voltiris, CH4 Global, Agrology, Heritable Agriculture, AVISOMO, Syngenta and More!
Sepehr Achard
January 31, 2025
Welcome to this week’s AgTech Digest! 🌱
This edition of AgTech Digest covers the latest funding rounds, industry partnerships, and technological developments shaping the agriculture sector. Key updates include investments in robotics, automation, and energy production, advancements in biological pest control and soil health, and innovations in carbon monitoring and AI-driven plant breeding.
Additionally, we highlight regulatory updates, including a federal ruling on pesticide pricing claims.
This Week’s Highlights Include:
Estimated Reading Time: 6 - 7 minutes
You can also listen to the full episode here.
FUNDING & INVESTMENTS
🚀 AgTech Funding Announcements This Week: Robotics, Automation & Energy Production
Bonsai Robotics Secures $15M to Expand AI-Powered Orchard Management
📌 Who? Bonsai Robotics, an AI-driven automation company.
💰 How much? $15M in Series A funding, led by Bison Ventures.
🎯 Why it matters? The investment will enhance its Visionsteer™ platform, improve data capabilities, and accelerate automation adoption.
🌱 Impact: Deployed in 40+ tree nut orchards across the U.S. and Australia, Bonsai’s autonomous tools reduce costs, increase yields, and provide actionable insights.
AISPRID Raises $10.9M to Scale Autonomous Greenhouse Robots
📌 Who? French AgriTech startup AISPRID.
💰 How much? $10.9M in Series A funding.
🎯 Why it matters? AISPRID’s AI-powered leaf removal robots for greenhouse tomato production address labor shortages and improve efficiency.
🚜 What’s next? 2025 model will feature autonomous row-switching, higher capacity, and improved cutting precision. Expansion plans include increasing production and global commercialization.
Avisomo Secures $5.45M to Advance Vertical Farming Tech
📌 Who? Avisomo, a vertical farming automation leader.
💰 How much? $5.45M, including a $1.74M grant from Innovation Norway.
🌍 Why it matters? Avisomo’s modular system reduces water use and food waste, enabling local, year-round food production.
🚀 Impact: The funding supports scaling operations, international growth, and continued tech innovation.
Voltiris Raises $5.26M to Power Greenhouses with Solar Energy
📌 Who? Voltiris, a solar energy solutions provider for greenhouses.
💰 How much? $5.26M, co-led by EquityPitcher Ventures and 3M Ventures.
☀️ Why it matters? Their spectral filtering technology boosts energy efficiency while improving crop resilience (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers).
📈 Next steps: Expanding teams in Switzerland and the Netherlands, focusing on agronomy, solar project development, and sales.
THIS WEEK’S EDITORIAL
🌿 Greenhouse Crop Trends for 2025
🥗 Key Greenhouse Crops to Watch
📌 What’s dominating? Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and lettuce remain top choices.
🍅 Tomatoes: High-yielding, disease-resistant, and parthenocarpic varieties (no pollination needed) will drive growth. Focus areas: compact plant habits, flavor, and texture improvements.
🥒 Cucumbers: Priorities include high-yielding hybrids, better disease resistance, and enhanced eating quality.
🍆 Eggplants: Gaining traction with compact growth habits and diverse colors for specialty markets.
🥬 Lettuce: Expect downy mildew-resistant varieties, colorful lettuce mixes, and high-efficiency types. Hydroponic production in low- and mid-tech greenhouses is expanding.
🌱 Emerging Greenhouse Crop Trends
📌 What’s new? Radishes, peppers, microgreens, berries, and tree seedlings are gaining ground.
🌿 Radishes: Quick turnaround, diverse colors, hydroponic systems, and spring variety expansion fuel their rise.
🌶 Peppers: More color and heat level diversity, disease-resistant cultivars, and growing demand for specialty hot peppers.
🌱 Microgreens & Herbs: Year-round production, expanded mix varieties, and vertical farming integration.
🍓 Berries: Advances in substrate culture, vertical growing systems, and ever-bearing varieties increase efficiency.
🌳 Tree Seedlings: Modernization efforts address rising demand, climate adaptation, and labor challenges.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
🤝 New Partnerships: Expanding Fertilizer Distribution & More!
🌍 Acadian Plant Health & Koppert Expand Partnership to EMEA
📌 Who? Acadian Plant Health & Koppert
📍 Where? Expanding to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
🌱 Why it matters? This partnership integrates biological pest control with biostimulant technology, providing sustainable solutions for growers.
🎯 Key goals:
Protect crops from pests and diseases
Enhance yields and crop quality
Support long-term soil and plant health
🔄 Innovafeed & Agryco Partner to Expand Organic Fertilizer Distribution
📌 Who? Innovafeed & Agryco
🌍 Where? Global expansion of Hilucia™ Frass, an organic fertilizer made from insect farming byproducts
🌾 Why it matters? The partnership enhances soil health and crop productivity by integrating organic fertilizers into agricultural practices.
💡 Key benefits:
Agryco's digital platform connects producers with organic input suppliers
Farmers gain centralized access to product information & sourcing options
🐖 Axitan & QualiTech Partner to Expand Antibiotic-Free Feed Additives
📌 Who? Axitan Limited & QualiTech
📍 Where? North America
🐄 Why it matters? This partnership accelerates the adoption of antibiotic-free feed additives using Axitan’s FORC3® endolysin-based technology.
🎯 Key details:
QualiTech becomes the exclusive distributor for FORC3® in swine, ruminants, and non-broiler poultry
Axitan retains broiler segment distribution
Collaboration will drive the development of new endolysin-based solutions for livestock health
NEW PRODUCTS, FACILITIES & PROGRAM
🌱 AgTech Innovations: New Asparagopsis Production Facility, New Program & More!
🐄 CH4 Global Opens First Commercial Asparagopsis Production Facility
📌 Who? CH4 Global
📍 Where? Louth Bay, South Australia
🌿 Why it matters? CH4 Global’s EcoPark is the world’s first commercial-scale Asparagopsis production facility, designed to reduce methane emissions from livestock.
🎯 Key details:
Uses a cost-effective pond-based system, reducing production costs by up to 90%.
Initial phase includes 10 cultivation ponds (2M liters each), producing 80+ metric tons of Asparagopsis annually.
Future expansion could scale to 500 ponds, increasing availability of methane-reducing feed supplements.
🌾 Forever Feed Technologies Launches Innovation Center for Sustainable Livestock Feed
📌 Who? Forever Feed Technologies
📍 Where? Hanford, California
🚜 Why it matters? The FFT Innovation Center pioneers Automated Sprouted Grain (FFT-ASG™) technology, providing fresh, water-efficient livestock feed.
🎯 Key details:
Daily production of high-quality feed with significantly lower water use vs. traditional alfalfa.
First-of-its-kind facility paves the way for commercial-scale feed mills capable of producing 50 tons/day, supporting 2,500+ dairy cows.
Commercial mill construction set to begin in 2025.
📊 Agrology Unveils First Scalable Carbon Flux Monitoring System
📌 Who? Agrology
📍 Where? Validated across six U.S. sites
🌍 Why it matters? Agrology’s Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) Measurement System provides affordable, continuous field-based carbon monitoring.
🎯 Key details:
Measures soil CO₂ flux, carbon concentration gradients, and environmental conditions.
Uses machine learning models to reduce uncertainty in carbon sequestration programs.
Beta program launched in the U.S., with an international rollout planned for spring 2025.
🌾 Heritable Agriculture Uses AI to Revolutionize Plant Breeding
📌 Who? Heritable Agriculture
📍 Where? Global applications, with a key partnership with ArborGen
🧬 Why it matters? AI-driven predictive breeding models and gene editing are transforming crop resilience and breeding efficiency.
🎯 Key details:
Integrates multi-omics data and precision gene editing to improve disease resistance and yield.
Reduces crop improvement costs and accelerates breeding cycles.
Partnership with ArborGen to improve loblolly pine tree breeding for commercial forestry.
WHAT WE ARE READING
Other News: Antitrust Lawsuit
⚖️ Syngenta, Corteva Must Face Parts of Antitrust Lawsuit – Reuters
📌 Who? Syngenta & Corteva
📍 Where? U.S. federal court, North Carolina
⚖️ What’s happening? A federal judge ruled that farmers from multiple states can proceed with parts of a class-action lawsuit accusing the companies of using loyalty programs to suppress competition and inflate pesticide prices.
🎯 Key details:
Farmers from California, Illinois, Florida, Texas, and five other states can pursue claims under federal and state laws.
A federal antitrust damages claim was dismissed, but some state law claims remain, meaning farmers may still be eligible for compensation.
Syngenta and Corteva deny the allegations.
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