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The Vancouver-based Semios has developed a platform for crop data and pest control management. Semios' network helps farms optimizing sustainability and profitability by collecting sensory data on firms
Fremont, CA: Agtech Startup Semios, which helps growers assess and optimize their response to insect, disease, and plant health conditions in real-time, has raised $100 million CAD ($75 million USD) in private equity funding. Boston-based private equity and venture capital firm, Morningside Group led the financing round. Morningside Group is led by Hong Kong billionaires Gerald and Ronnie Chan. The Vancouver-based Semios has developed a platform for crop data and pest control management. Semios' network helps farms optimizing sustainability and profitability by collecting sensory data on firms.
Semios[vendor_logo_first] raised a total of $152 million CAD ($115 million USD) in external capital since it was founded in 2010. In 2016, the startup received $8 million in private equity financing from the AgTech community's undisclosed group of individuals. Semios received $9.9 million from the federal government through Sustainable Development Technology Canada in 2018.
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Having developed a meticulous farming platform, Semios' IoT network gathers sensory data on "every acre" of a farm, which in the company's term is called "near real-time." The initiative is taken to help farmers manage complex biosystems in orchards while optimizing profitability and sustainability.
Check Out : Agri Business Review
The IoT sensors that are placed in the fields, measure soil, in-canopy microclimate, and plant conditions every 10 minutes. The data is collected on a daily basis and is then fed into proprietary models that provide guidance on improving agricultural practices addressing weather, disease, insects, and water management challenges.
Semios said that the latest funding would allow the company to potentially accelerate research, partnerships, development, or acquisitions, to help reduce chemical pest control around the world, increase crop outcomes, and improve water management.
This Vancouver-based cleantech startup has been continuously named for the past three years in the Global Cleantech 100, an annual list of the most innovative cleantech companies around the world. With the present round of funding, Semios joins fellow Global 100 and British Columbia-based company Carbon Engineering, in having raised significant rounds of funding. Carbon Engineering raised more than $115 million, including a $90 million venture round from the likes of Bill Gates in the year 2019.
See also: Most Promising Clean Tech Startups
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