Canadian Agtech Startup Closes $4-Million Seed Round to Put Grain Quality Data into Farmers’ Hands
Ground Truth Agriculture Inc. has announced the close of its seed funding round with $4-million to develop technology that will provide farmers with lab-quality grain analysis right off their combine, in real-time and with location precision.
“During harvest on my family’s farm, I would think about the effort that went into optimizing that year’s yield,” Ground Truth Ag Chief Executive Officer Kyle Folk said. “And then we would send a grain sample to a lab with a volume equivalent to what comes off a four foot square piece of land to judge the quality of a harvested area of at least 75 football fields. Where is the precision in that?”
The funding round was led by Conexus Venture Capital Inc. and includes $2-million from its agtech focused Emmertech fund. Additional investors include: SaskWorks Venture Fund Inc., Tall Grass Ventures, Golden Opportunities Fund Inc., WTC Investments LP, private investors and new commitments from existing shareholders.
“Finding an experienced team led by a repeat founder in the agtech space is extremely rare here in Canada. We are excited to be working with Kyle given his experience in scaling and exiting an agtech company,” Conexus Venture Capital Inc. and Emmertech Managing Director Sean O’Connor said. “We believe that Ground Truth Ag is the missing piece in helping give meaningful clarity to the farmer on the outcomes of their precision agriculture practices.”
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Since beginning operations in January of this year, Ground Truth Ag’s team has grown to include 15 employees working out of their Regina, Saskatchewan-based headquarters, creating new jobs in computer vision, mechanical and electrical engineering, software development and analytical chemistry. In less than nine months, Ground Truth Ag’s team had a current prototype operating for this year’s harvest on Folk’s family farm. The Holdfast, Saskatchewan operation has become a proving ground for agtech innovations.
“My dad was an amazing supporter when I built my first agtech firm over a decade ago and was the first farmer to install its monitors on his grain bins,” Folk said. “With this being his last harvest before retiring, it meant so much to me to see our prototype on his combines for my family’s final harvest.”
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