The funding will help Semios to accelerate the adoption of data-driven farming through its IoT network
Image: Semios’ IoT network on a farm collecting data. (Credit: SemiosBio Technologies Inc.)
Semios, a precision farming solution provider, has secured $75m in equity funding led by Morningside Group, to advance its data-driven crop management solution.
With latest round of funding, Semios has now secured a total of $115m in external capital, since its establishment in 2010.
Semios is claimed to have doubled its revenues year-over-year, on an average since 2015. This rapid growth has been attributed to providing precision farming solutions in addressing the challenges of insect damage encountered by farmers for permanent crops such as almonds, apples, pistachios and grapes.
Semios CEO and founder Michael Gilbert said: “The Semios IoT network, the largest in agriculture, provides critical insights into the relationships between organisms and their environments, leveraging big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
“We amplify the experience and confidence of farmers by providing a clear picture of how environmental and agronomic factors influence the yield and grade of their crops. This investment will help us continue to deliver innovative solutions to the most pressing problems growers have told us they face.”
Semios’ IoT network can collect data in near real-time
The IoT network of Semios is claimed to collect sensory data from every acre in near real-time. The data will help farmers in managing complex biosystems in orchards to optimise the sustainability and profitability of the crops.
The cloud-based analytics platform can ingest high granular data from over one million IoT sensors in the field and measure in-canopy microclimate, soil and plant conditions every 10 minutes.
Daily 350 million data points are collected and fed into established models to provide guidance on improving agricultural practices for addressing challenges such as weather, insects, disease and water management.
The funding will help Semios to accelerate research, development, partnerships or acquisitions to use in-field data to support farmers around the world in reducing chemical inputs, improve water management and to increase their crop outcomes.
Morningside Group investment manager Mick Sawka said “Capitalizing companies that are solving important and complex problems with data is an area of focus of our investment team.
“Semios’ proven track record growing revenues through innovation is exemplary. Their work has made farming more environmentally sustainable, more productive and therefore enhanced the security of our food chain.”