Thursday, 28 December 2023 15:25

Stellar support for Cropsy

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New Zealand-based agritech startup Cropsy Technologies has raised $1.7 million in an extended and oversubscribed capital raise, including support from United States investor Seraph Group.

“We invested because this is the way of the future, and the founding team exhibits the commitment to see this through,” says Seraph Group’s Founder and Chief Executive Tuff Yen. Cropsy’s capital raise also received continued support from existing investors, including Angel Investors Marlborough, NZGCP, Icehouse Ventures, and K1W1.

Cropsy has developed cutting edge crop monitoring technology that combines automated, continuous, and GPS-tracked high-definition image capture with AI-enabled software.

Each Cropsy scanner analyses over 30,000 vines per day in real-time, integrating with growers’ existing tractors to profile critical aspects of a vineyard – leaves, shoots, fruits, canes, and trunks – with no extra labour. The scanners ensure accurate details like colours and textures are preserved, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.

The technology is currently crafted specifically for vineyards, including the ability to localise disease presence in its earliest stages, track missing and dead vines, analyse pruning status, and count buds, inflorescences and bunches for yield estimation – all on a per-vine level.

Lead investor, Tracy Atkin of Angel Investors Marlborough, says it has been an extremely tough year for capital raising in a post-pandemic and recessionary environment. “For Cropsy to not only reach their target but exceed it is a testament to their team and technology. It is a fantastic achievement and one I was proud to support as lead investor for their second round on behalf of Angel Investors Marlborough.”

Cropsy Chief Executive Ali Alomari says 2023 has shaped up to be a “momentous” year for the company. “We’ve reached our first international customers in the US and France, and the support of Seraph Group aligns perfectly with our attention on the US as a key market.” Earlier in 2022, Ali mentioned that Cropsy’s internal milestone is to scan 10 million vines by the end of 2023. “We’ve passed 6 million new vines right now, and at this rate, we’ll reach our target of 10 million new vines by the end of this year.”

Chief Operating Officer Leila Deljkovic says New Zealand is a “character-building” place to grow deep tech companies like Cropsy. “We’re extremely efficient simply because of where we’re based. It’s a distinct advantage.”

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Published in Machinery

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