Felicis Ventures is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California. The firm invests in seed through Series C stage companies across multiple sectors and industries reinventing core markets, as well as those creating frontier technologies. Felicis currently manages over $2B in capital across 8 funds. The firm is an early backer of more than 40 companies valued at $1B+. More than 90 of its portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public since the firm was founded by Aydin Senkut in 2006.

Felicis

Lemnos VC they focuses on engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and financial capital, turning ideas into successful hardware companies.

Lemnos VC

SVG Ventures|THRIVE is an investment and advisory firm that partners with public and private organizations on strategy, innovation and global expansion. Formed in 2010 and based in Silicon Valley, SVG Ventures|THRIVE invests in early stage technology companies.  The SVG Ventures|THRIVE team consists of accomplished technology leaders from all over the globe. With its vast network, SVG gets deeply involved with portfolio companies to support their success.

SVG Ventures

Playground is an early-stage investment firm that helps old and new investors and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of bits, atoms, and AI. It focuses on investment, innovation, connected hardware, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Playground Global

Valley Oak invests in private companies, funds, and real assets focusing on early-stage companies in food & ag tech, prop tech, and fin tech. Valley Oak manages a permanent capital base and partners with extraordinary entrepreneurs to build enduring companies.

Valley Oak Investments

Basis Set Ventures is an early-stage investment firm focused on artificial intelligence and its practical application. It focuses on seed and Series A investments, writing checks typically between $1 million and $3 million. The firm invests in enterprise companies, concentrating on scalable infrastructure, collaboration tools, automated workflows, and autonomous machines. Lan Xuezhao headquartered Basis Set Ventures in San Francisco, California in 2017.

Basis Set Ventures

Xplorer Capital they invests in industries with technologies in artificial intelligence, automation, IOT( Internet of Things), and robotics), and enterprise SaaS Data Solutions.

Xplorer Capital

Founded in 1921, Wilbur-Ellis is a leading international marketer and distributor of agricultural products, animal feed and specialty chemicals and ingredients. By developing strong relationships, making strategic market investments and capitalizing on new opportunities, Wilbur-Ellis has continued to grow its business with sales over $3 billion.

Wilbur-Ellis

Calibrate Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in start-ups. The firm is a partner-only firm with no junior investment professionals. It leverages a community of investors, founders, and partners who help deliver powerful results. Jason Schoettler and Kevin Dunlap co-founded it in 2016 in Pasadena, California.

Calibrate Ventures

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Alumni Ventures

Google Ventures supports innovative founders who are moving the world forwards. They invest across the life sciences, consumer, enterprise, crypto, climate, and frontier technology sectors. With Alphabet as its sole limited partner, GV operates on long time horizons and deals in decades, not rounds. Their operating partners help startups with company building across design, equity, diversity & inclusion, talent, and engineering. They also help startups interface with Google, providing unique access to the world’s best technology and talent. Launched as Google Ventures in 2009, GV has over $8 billion in assets under management and 400 active portfolio companies across North America and Europe. Notable investment outcomes include Uber, Nest, Slack, GitLab, Duo Security, Flatiron Health, Verve Therapeutics, and One Medical. GV is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Cambridge, New York, and London.

Google Ventures

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 partnerships with exceptional management teams to commercialize innovative technologies, accelerate growth, and build long-term value around the world.

Middleland Capital

Fall Line Capital primarily seeks investment in broadacre farmland and agricultural technologies. The firm engages in purchasing and actively managing farmland throughout the United States, and by investing in technology companies that are strategic to our landholdings. Fall Line Capital's primary goal is to realize untapped productivity in farmland.

Fall Line Capital

Taylor Farms' high quality salads and vegetables begin with high quality farming families. Since the beginning we’ve partnered with over 100 family growers across the country; several have been farming in the Salinas Valley since the early 1920’s.  Many say farmers were America’s first environmentalists. This continues to be true today. The land is our growers' livelihood. They are committed to using sustainable farming practices to grow the finest quality vegetables and preserve their land in order to pass onto the next generation of farmers.

Taylor Farms

Cavallo Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on feed, pet nutrition, aquafeed, ingredients, and formulation. They invest their own capital and are looking for pioneering entrepreneurs that insist on building successful companies without taking shortcuts. Cavallo Ventures was founded in 2016 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Cavallo Ventures

FarmWise

FarmWise provides technology-based services that allow farmers to streamline farm operations and increase food production efficiency. It offers a productive mechanical weeding implement for vegetable crops, along with its exceptional training and support program. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in San Francisco, California.

<div>FarmWise is a precision agriculture company that aims to improve farmers’ yield and efficiency, allowing them to make precise decisions using robots. FarmWise offers an autonomous weeding robot, the “Titan FT-35”, which uses machine learning and computer vision to detect and pick weeds from fields, reducing or eliminating the need for chemical pesticides. The Titan can be used on a range of row crops including lettuce, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, radicchio, and artichokes, and there were plans to include melons and tomatoes. The Titan can also be fit with different types of blades to weed crops of different sizes. The company announced in 2021 that it planned to release “Vulcan”, an AI-based tractor mounted weeder, which could weed up to six rows.</div>

Sustainably solving the food shortages of the future

Smart Farming

<div>
 
 FarmWise is a precision agriculture company that aims to improve farmers’ yield and efficiency, allowing them to make precise decisions using robots. FarmWise offers an autonomous weeding robot, the “Titan FT-35”, which uses machine learning and computer vision to detect and pick weeds from fields, reducing or eliminating the need for chemical pesticides. The Titan can be used on a range of row crops including lettuce, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, radicchio, and artichokes, and there were plans to include melons and tomatoes. The Titan can also be fit with different types of blades to weed crops of different sizes. The company announced in 2021 that it planned to release “Vulcan”, an AI-based tractor mounted weeder, which could weed up to six rows.
 
 
 The company was still in its early stages and expected demand for its robots to increase as it improved associated technology and engineering.  Based on trials, FarmWise stated that its robots had efficiently weeded more than 10 million plants in the US as of September 2019. 
 
 
 Farmwise provides its robots on a pay-per-acre basis. As of November 2021, Farmwise had 14 Titans and worked with 20 farmers across the Salinas, Santa Maria, and Yuma Valleys. As of February 2022, the company targeted vegetable growers in the Salinas Valley and Santa Maria region of California and expected to expand to the southern deserts. By May 2022, the company has offered its services to large vegetable farms in California and Arizona over 3 commercial seasons, and has provided 15,000 hours of service and obtained 450 million scanned images in its database.
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10840">
 In May 2022
 </a>
 , the company raised USD 45 million in a Series B funding round led by Fall Line Capital and Middleland Capital. The funds would support the launch of a new weeding machine and the development of the company’s technology to enable row crop weeding.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Israeli startup Taranis, focuses on providing a complete digital agronomy solution to farmers using aerial imagery technology across the US, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, and Australia. The company now monitors more than 20 million acres globally, 50% of which is located within the US. The company is also looking towards expanding into Asia. The startup captures aerial images using UAVs, which can be analyzed and compared using its own platform, and allows farmers to make precise decisions about planting. The company also operates an area called the “AgroBrain”, which allows precise identification of crop issues. 
 
 
 The company claims to account for 70% of the global crop market and equips farmers with the tools to address issues in real time. Similar to peers like Ceres Imaging, Taranis has partnered with incumbent players like John Deere, Syngenta, BASF, and Climate Field View to expand its product reach. As such, Taranis is regarded as a promising startup in global precision agriculture. Taranis further strengthened its aerial imagery offering by extending its partnership with DroneNerds (the largest distributor of enterprise drone solutions) and DJI (the Chinese multinational commercial UAV manufacturer) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10126">
 in April 2022
 </a>
 .
 
 
 In 2018, the company expanded its footprint in the US when it acquired Mavrx, a US startup providing aerial imagery solutions to local farmers. Mavrx ran into financial difficulties and consolidation of the two companies yielded attractive opportunities. The consolidation allowed Taranis to integrate Mavrx’s product (full field imagery product with highest resolution on the market) into its platform, thereby fulfilling Taranis’ aim of providing a complete solution. The acquisition strengthened Taranis' offering rather than differentiating it. Taranis believes that further consolidation is likely with imagery and AI solutions. 
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12885">
 In September 2022,
 </a>
 Taranis raised USD 40 million in Series D funding led by Inven Capital, to be used to accelerate progress for the company’s 3-year plan which it outlined in 2020. The plan looks at relocating its headquarters to Indiana, US from Israel, and expanding its operations.
 
</div>

Taranis

<div>
 
 Canada-based TELUS Agriculture offers integrated agriculture software solutions to boost profits for farmers, ranchers, agri-businesses, agri-food, consumer goods, and retail firms. Farm management software solutions provided by the company include the Farm at Hand crop management platform, TKXS for data management, the Agrian precision and informed decision-making tool, and Muddy Boots—a food traceability and supply chain management product. As of July 2021, TELUS operates across Canada, the USA, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Armenia, Germany, China, and Australia.
 
 
 In July 2021, TELUS and Rabobank, a Dutch food and agriculture bank, acquired the farm planning software solution company Conservis to deliver a more robust platform covering a broader range of crops and livestock to a larger number of clients.
 
 
 Founded in 2009, Conservis via its web and mobile platform, provides farmers with planning tools, real-time data capture, and analytics to support better decision making and efficient reporting. Having launched as a permanent crop management platform for tree nuts, the platform has expanded its capabilities to fit crop types such as citrus and grapes. Since 2018, Rabo AgriFinance, a Rabobank subsidiary, has also been a development partner for Conservis to enhance the platform’s financial reporting capabilities. 
 
</div>

TELUS  Agriculture

<div>
 
 Arable was established with the aim of providing measurements, insight, and predictions that enable growers to address risks with crop management. The key market of focus has been the US, though the company&rsquo;s product has been used in 39 different countries.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company provides real-time data updates on irrigation and weather, such as reports on plants and crop management, to allow users to make informed decisions, while also being able to precisely measure different farming-related data such as temperature and humidity. Thus, the company falls under the categories of precision and smart farming.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s product, Arable Mark, is an irrigation management tool whichsynthesizes climate, plant, and soil data to produce visualizations. Through a web dashboard and smartphone app, Arable Mark exposes precipitation, crop water deficit, soil moisture, chilling hours, and other metrics gathered from sensors. Customers using Arable&rsquo;s platform have reportedly shown to reduce irrigation by upto 50% and pesticide usage by 15%.&nbsp;In May 2023, the company commercially introduced 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18120">
 Arable Mark 3
 </a>
 which includes a 5 MP camera, an optional wind anemometer, and advanced plant and environmental sensing capabilities.
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s customer base is quite broad in the agriculture value chain, and includes farmers, advisors, insurers, processors, lenders, and governments that find Arable useful to gauge facts on the ground in real time, and in turn reduce risk and increase certainty with decision making.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of July 2022, &nbsp;the company serves over 400 customers across 40 countries, and&nbsp; has partnered with agribusiness players like&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.bayer.com/en/">
 Bayer
 </a>
 ,&nbsp;
 <a href="http://basf.com/">
 BASF
 </a>
 , and&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.nutrien.com/">
 Nutrien
 </a>
 , as well as large consumer food companies such as&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjZmt7Vz8HsAhVB5bMKHZDRA-QYABAAGgJxbg&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESQOD2vDo-TeLvYzetoyv9iGSw4AnEyiwfscK9vNdjRJ0JPSZXAOBHMYcmrQDPGFTkEl8yzB3t5tB0WHRWzqyKtJE&sig=AOD64_30Xpx6__U8VgKUxkOFpPHuSo99bw&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwj--M3Vz8HsAhVCLKwKHa4MAgUQ0Qx6BAgUEAE">
 Mars
 </a>
 ,&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.lambweston.com/">
 Lamb Weston
 </a>
 , and&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.tweglobal.com/">
 Treasury Wine Estates
 </a>
 ,&nbsp;as well as fellow startups like&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.planet.com/">
 Planet
 </a>
 ,&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.terramera.com/">
 Terramera
 </a>
 , and&nbsp;
 <a href="https://www.pivotbio.com/">
 Pivot Bio
 </a>
 primarily to expand the reach of its platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11852">
 In July 2022
 </a>
 , Arable raised USD 40 million in Series C funding led by Galvanize Climate Solutions to support product development, delivery of new services, and international expansion.&nbsp;
 
 
 Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the company&rsquo;s sales grew by 4x during 2020 and 2022, while&nbsp; reporting a&nbsp; 300% sales growth in Q3 2020 alone.&nbsp; 
 
 
 
</div>

Arable

<div>
 
 The company&rsquo;s aerial spectral imagery helps growers optimize water and fertilizer application, focusing on the midstream of the agriculture value chain. The company uses low-flying planes to capture and process these aerial spectral images. The images provide accurate and real-time information on the water and nutrient status of every plant in the field. 
 &nbsp;The company initially focused on the US and Australia, and later 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16918">
 expanded
 </a>
 its services to Portugal and Spain. 
 
 
 Its technology can be applied to vineyards, orchards, and row crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat. The company is more of a Data as a Service organisation where the grower will pay Ceres Imaging by the acre and receive imagery and necessary support to integrate the information with broader crop management practices. The company has partnered with established companies like John Deere and Climate FieldView, which find that Ceres Imaging&rsquo;s solutions (pest and disease detection weeks ahead of human detection) align with their products and services.&nbsp;In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15394">
 December 2022
 </a>
 , Ceres Imaging partnered with Lindsay Corporation, a provider of irrigation, infrastructure, and industrial technology solutions, to receive high-resolution images from Ceres Imaging's technology for Lindsay&rsquo;s FieldNET platform.
 
 
 In 2019, Ceres Imaging significantly expanded its operations with irrigated row crops throughout the central and western US.&nbsp;During the period, Ceres also nearly doubled its share of the&nbsp;California&nbsp;specialty crop market, going from managing 10% to 18% of all specialty crop acres in the state.&nbsp;
 
 
 In September 2021, the company raised USD 23 million in a Series C funding round led by XTX Ventures and REMUS Capital. The funds were to be directed toward advancing the company&rsquo;s product offering, developing the company&rsquo;s AI technology that will allow improved irrigation practices for growers, and expanding the company&rsquo;s geographical presence.
 
</div>

Ceres Imaging

<div>
 
 SWIIM (Sustainable Water and Innovative Irrigation Management) System, with the support of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and various US grant universities, operates multi-patented technology developed to manage agricultural water budgets, allowing farmers to efficiently allocate water. The company focuses on the midstream of the agricultural value chain, supporting farmers through their harvesting process. The company’s technology is being widely deployed across western US states.
 
 
 The company provides a device that integrates with existing water measurement tools such as water gauges and analyzes real-time water usage via telemetry, offering farmers information on exactly how much water is used for crops and how much goes back into the ground.
 
 
 The company’s system can be used for any crop and irrigation system, lending its product flexibility and scope for potential expansion beyond the US. 
 
 
 In 2018, SWIIM acquired farm management software OnFarm Systems, which operates a customizable dashboard presenting data collected from a range of different internet of things (IoT) sources (weather, pest control, crop models) on any online device. The acquisition provided SWIIM customers with a differentiated product. Moreover, OnFarm’s 500 clients across the United States, Europe, and Asia at the time were accessible to SWIIM.  
 
 
 In 2020, SWIIM issued its own certification to farmers for the sustainable use of water, conveying to consumers that produce was grown with sustainable water management practices. In addition, SWIIM also introduced its “Certified Water Balance Report”, providing growers with an audited account of their water use. The company’s niche focus on water management, alongside its efforts at differentiation via acquisitions, arms it with potential to broaden its reach.
 
 
 
</div>

SWIIM Systems

Provides solutions that maximizes efficiency throughout the agriculture value chain

Uses data analytics and sensors and related technologies to provide crop and livestock monitoring insights

IoT-enabled sensors are used in machinery and equipment to help with data collection

Uses robots for harvesting, weeding, and related agricultural purposes

Crop and livestock monitoring startups use AI for their analytics platform

Start-ups providing smart machinery such as agricultural robots and autonomous tractors, as well as other smart hardware devices for crop and livestock management.

FarmWise

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FarmWise raises USD 45 million in Series B funding

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