SA’s Aerobotics raises $17-million to scale AI for agriculture

AEROBOTICS RAISES $17M TO SCALE AI FOR AGRICULTURE GLOBALLY

South African agritech startup Aerobotics announced in January that it had raised $17-million in an oversubscribed Series B round led by Naspers.

Naspers was joined in the round by Cathay AfricInvest Innovation, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and Platform Investment Partners.

Founded in 2014 by CEO James Paterson and CTO Benji Meltzer, Aerobotics uses aerial imagery and machine learning algorithms to optimise crop performance and predict yield for farmers in up to 18 countries including Australia, South Africa, and the US.

The startup has become a leader in the application of artificial intelligence in agriculture. The insights Aerobotics provides to its clients include tree counts, the identification of missing trees, and the size and health of trees. The company has progressed its technology to engineer fruit counts, and to provide data on fruit size and colour. Farmers use the intelligence to manage their farms, trees and fruit more efficiently. Aerobotics delivers the insights through their proprietary Aeroview platform and Aeroview InField mobile app.

Aerobotic’s $17-million Series B round follows a R100m investment the startup received from Naspers Foundry in May last year (see this story.

Aerobotics said the Series B investment will be used to further technology development and product delivery in the US and in the startup’s other core territories.

Paterson said Aerobotics is committed to providing intelligent tools to optimise automation, minimise inputs and maximise production. “We look forward to further co-developing our products with the agricultural industry leaders,” he added. ai