AN Australian ag tech company has been given a major dose of confidence with the finalisation of an $11 million investment.
The Yield Technology Solutions confirmed that venture capital group, Yamaha Motor Ventures and Laboratory Silicon Valley had signed on to the deal.
Yamaha Motor Ventures is the strategic business development and investment arm of global technology organisation, Yamaha Motor Co.
Yamaha Motor Ventures leveraged its global domain expertise in high-value horticulture in identifying The Yield as an investment opportunity.
The Yield is developing its proprietary digital application providing microclimate data and predictive insights to support critical production decisions for large commercial growers in the specialty crops industry.
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It uses the internet of things (IoT), data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to power its technology to solve challenges at farm level and throughout the food chain.
The Yield founder and managing director, Ros Harvey, said she was delighted with the investment and the support from the well-known global technology organisations.
"This is recognition of our efforts in delivering a world-class solution in weather and yield predictions for our customers," Ms Harvey said.
"Technology is critical in delivering security, particularly in light of current disrupted food supply chains.
"Our Sensing+ microclimate solution helps customers to work largely remotely in managing the needs of their crops and manage labour requirements.
"It facilitates the uptake of automated robotic operations in farming and remote management of dispersed assets.
"Additionally, by leveraging customer data sets, our Sensing+ Enterprise Analytics platform quickly combines data to create AI models for things like yield predictions, that drive significant commercial benefit for customers."
Nolan Paul, the partner responsible for leading global food and agtech investments at Yamaha Motor Ventures, said the group looks to partner with the best companies in a global market.
"For several years, Yamaha Motor Ventures has scrutinised the global ag tech sector as the food supply chain, particularly specialty crop production, is ripe for disruption," Mr Paul said.
"Based on our domain analysis, we selected The Yield as a best-in-class solution in delivering predictive insights for specialty crops, making it a very attractive opportunity for the Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund.
"The Yield is poised to be The Climate Corp of horticulture and we look forward to supporting the team's strategic plan to scale its data-driven solution to the global specialty crop market."
In a show of confidence, the major shareholder in The Yield, the Bosch Group, converted its existing loan into equity in the company.
Bosch Australia president, Gavin Smith, said it was good to see The Yield getting traction and attracting investment.
"There is no doubt, Agriculture 4.0 is coming of age, and Australia is poised to play a leading role thanks to companies like The Yield," Mr Smith said.
Under the subscription agreement, The Yield's current capital raise round is open to new investors until the close date of Thursday, July 16, 2020.
Investors can also wait list for the company's next capital raise by contacting The Yield direct via their website.
The Yield founder and managing director, Ros Harvey, said she was delighted with the investment and the support from the well-known global technology organisations.
"This is recognition of our efforts in delivering a world-class solution in weather and yield predictions for our customers," Ms Harvey said.
"Technology is critical in delivering security, particularly in light of current disrupted food supply chains.
"Our Sensing+ microclimate solution helps customers to work largely remotely in managing the needs of their crops and manage labour requirements.
"It facilitates the uptake of automated robotic operations in farming and remote management of dispersed assets.
"Additionally, by leveraging customer data sets, our Sensing+ Enterprise Analytics platform quickly combines data to create AI models for things like yield predictions, that drive significant commercial benefit for customers."