Israel-based agritech firm Agritask bags $8.5m in series A round

Israeli agritech startup Agritask has raised US$8.5 million in a series A round led by the InsuResilience Investment Fund, set up on behalf of the German government by KfW and managed by Switzerland-based BlueOrchard Finance.

Brazilian early-stage VC investor Barn Investimentos also participated in the round, according to a statement.

Agritask CEO Ofir Ardon / Photo credit: Agritask

Agritask, which was founded in 2010, provides a ata-driven agronomic management platform aimed at improving the productivity of farmers. The platform can integrate with over 40 hardware and software data sources, including John Deere, Airbus, IBM, and SAP. It supports the entire agricultural production process, from soil fertility management and growth monitoring to harvest logistics.

Aside from farmers, the company also serves food and beverage companies, agricultural insurers, input providers, and governmental or developmental organizations.

Agritask plans to use the new funds to grow its farmer client base in the Americas and continue expanding its regional project and insurance sectors globally.

For regional projects, the startup’s system enables better monitoring, delivery of agronomic services, and risk management. For agricultural insurers, it allows them to make better decisions based on risk analysis.

“We intend to invest more resources in scientifically leveraging the huge amount of data in our system, and given our unique geographic and sector-wide spread, we intend to push the boundaries of data analytics in agriculture,” said Agritask CEO Ofir Ardon.

Agritask is currently active in 20 countries worldwide, covering more than 50 crop types.

Another Asian startup active in the space is Indonesia’s TaniGroup, which closed a US$10 million series A round earlier this year led by Singapore’s Openspace Ventures. Brunei-based Agrome IQ, which digitizes farm management through an app, also raised funding this year from Singapore-based Cerana Capital.

Japan’s Leave a Nest and Singapore’s FocusTech Ventures also established Germi8, an agrifood-focused private investment firm, in the city-state in August to spur innovation in the agrifood space.