Arable Labs Inc., pioneer of data-driven land management, today announced it has closed a $4.25 million Series A round of funding led by Middleland Capital's agriculture technology fund and S2G Ventures. The round includes participation from new investors Chase Field, Spark Labs and Cantos VC. With the new funds, the company will support expansion of data science and analytics for the food and ag supply chain, fueled by mass production of the Arable Mark IoT device (formerly known as PulsePod) later this year.
The launch of the Arable Mark brings groundbreaking insight to end users across the agricultural supply chain:
Producers: Insight into crop status and microclimate that drives operational decisions
Processors: Expected crop yields and quality that aid sales and logistics decisions
Retailers: Traceability and transparency into production conditions valued by consumers
Emerging as the leader in "decision agriculture," the Arable Mark delivers a level of plant health data that is unmatched in the industry. The Mark measures more dimensions of physical meteorology, at greater spatial density, than any weather model or station network, and more plant attributes, at greater frequency, than any satellite or aircraft. By measuring over 40 individual environmental data streams, the Mark is the most data-rich device available in IoT.
"I have been incredibly impressed by the product innovation at Arable," said Brian Mixer, Managing Director of Middleland Capital, who will be joining the Arable Board of Directors. "Adam and his team have developed a clear value proposition as the critical business intelligence that connects producers and processors. Accurate forecasting is in many ways a holy grail in agriculture, and Arable has brought together a rare group of product engineers, biologists, and mathematicians to solve this critical issue in the food supply chain. They've been able to get significant buy-in from some of this country's largest producers, Fortune 500 companies, research institutions, and government agencies. The value across the food supply chain is staggering."
The Mark's launch coincides with the all-new cloud-based Arable Insights software platform for crop consultants, farmers, large-scale producers, and food processors in the agricultural supply chain. Insights enables each stakeholder to communicate with trusted business partners based on real-time field-level data for the first time ever. It is now possible for managers to benchmark crop performance and seasonal progress across hundreds of fields, while also being able to drill down and understand the details of growth or weather events. The data synthesis of weather and crop growth enables Arable to predict timing, quality perishability, and yield. The company plans to expand Insights platform data interoperability with a number of key integrations throughout the year, particularly Valley Irrigation's AgSense and Irrigation Exchange.
"Middleland and S2G are rare investors who understand the whole food supply system, from genetics and chemistry, to production agriculture, to the brands that bring it to our tables," said Dr. Adam Wolf, CEO of Arable. "What joins all these players is their shared exposure to production risk, of simply not knowing what will come out of the field in a month or even a week out. We're excited to bring predictive analytics to agriculture and make a dent in the trillions of dollars wasted when food doesn't make it from field to fork."
"We've been waiting for someone to bring the internet of things and predictive analytics to agriculture, similar to the surge we have seen in medicine, energy, transportation, and other traditional industries," said Sanjeev Krishnan, Managing Director at S2G Ventures. "Arable is solving the financial risk embodied in transactions between growers and processors, especially in specialty crops that exist outside of commodities exchanges. As both parties capture benefits, we can see the emergence of a very different supply chain in food and ag. Consumers are demanding quality, reliability, and transparency, and growers and processors should benefit from delivering on that desire."
During the past year Arable field-tested the Mark with dozens of highÂ--profile beta partners, including Fortune 500 agribusiness and government agencies who validated the Mark's value across the entire food supply chain. The company will begin shipping the Mark this spring and make it more widely available through distributors later this year. The Mark comes equipped with cellular (2G/3G), WiFi, and Bluetooth for continuous connectivity. In addition, the Mark will be available with two different mounting configurations to cover nearly all applications: a vertical stake to sit above crops atop any pole, and a horizontal mount to attach to center pivots and pre-existing infrastructure. The mounting system can be augmented with an imaging device for computer vision applications, and an additional accessory port allows for wired sensors (such as soil moisture or irrigation monitors) or even sensors communicating with LoRA or Sigfox to be used with the Mark telemetry system.
About Arable
Arable is the global leader in data-driven land management with the Arable Mark, the most advanced weather and crop monitoring IoT device in the world. The company's connected hardware enables farmers, advisors, insurers, processors, lenders, and governments to understand facts on the ground in real-time, which reduces risk and increases predictability in the food and ag supply chain. With an extraordinary set of advanced measurements, the Mark feeds data-driven predictions of crop yields, quality, timing, and perishability, to increase efficiencies across the entire agricultural supply chain. For more information on how Arable is reshaping food production, please visit http://arable.com
About Middleland Capital
Middleland Capital is a private investment firm focused on global early-stage technology opportunities. Leveraging a unique breadth of geographic and industry experience, the firm seeks long-term partnerships with exceptional management teams to commercialize innovative technologies, accelerate growth and build long-term value around the world. For more information, visit http://www.middlelandcap.com
About S2G Ventures
Seed 2 Growth Ventures (S2G) is the largest, multi-stage venture fund investing in food and agriculture in the U.S. S2G is using capital and creativity to empower world-class entrepreneurs and catalyze innovation to deliver a food system that more closely meets consumer demands for healthy, sustainable and local food. S2G's investment strategy is to identify key sectors "from soil to shelf" that are ripe for change to form a three-tier portfolio: seed (big ideas, early stage), venture (launch, build on early success) and growth (scaling big ideas with existing market validation). For more information about S2G, visit http://www.s2gventures.com