The ever-growing population of the world combined with limited food resources of our planet poses one of the greatest challenges of our days. This challenge stretches from scarcity of food in many places around the world, to oftentimes questionable quality (and safety) of the food we consume. In the last centuries, poor farming practices, over-harvesting, extreme application of fertilizers and herbicides/pesticides have been seen as the means to an end, resulting in severe repercussions for the land itself as well as the produce. Nowadays, farmers are left with the puzzling task of producing enough food while complying with increasingly demanding regulations that aim to safeguard the environment.

Augmenta is delivering the next gen of precision agriculture, enabling farmers to apply the exact quantity of fertilisers or pesticides needed on every inch of a field (see video of product in use). Its product includes a tractor-mounted, multispectral-camera hardware which scans the field as the tractor drives through, during normal farming operations. Augmenta analyses crop condition on the go (see video of operations) and automatically applies the exact amount of inputs needed on every inch of the field, thus, reducing waste of chemicals and fertilizers. 

The vast data collected is analyzed in Augmenta’s web portal which offers an overview of farm operations and the condition of the field, along with the ability to examine pictures of crops in affected areas at the unforeseen quality of 4k.

When we announced our first investment in the company two and a half years ago, the two founders were starting off in the agricultural province of Volos, Greece, with a sci-fi prototype and a vision to change agriculture by automating the most impactful farming operations. A year ago, we were joined by Hardware Club and the results have been phenomenal. 

Today, Augmenta’s system supports real-time Nitrogen, PGR, and Harvest Aid applications, with more services like Green on Brown pesticide spraying already on the R&D roadmap, all of which will be available through over-the-air software updates, while it is also compatible with multiple crops, including grains, cotton, rice and sugarcane. 

In 16 countries around the world, Augmenta operations have been carried out with impressive results. Average input reductions for broad acre crops observed to date are 9% for Nitrogen, 20% for PGR and 15% for Harvest Aids compared to traditional practices, with an average yield increase of 2%.

What’s more, Augmenta’s system can operate on any tractor and is ISOBUS-compatible. In an otherwise very fragmented market, where equipment cannot be used across the board and cross-brands, a farmer can benefit from the Augmenta system irrespective of their preferred tractor brand.

Today, we are excited to announce an $8m Series A round with the participation of agriculture machinery manufacturer CNH Industrial and climate fund Pymwymic, alongside Marathon and Hardware Club. CNH Industrial is a leader in tractor manufacturing with brands such as Case IH, New Holland and Steyr. Pymwymic is a pioneer in climate-related investments featuring one of the best agtech portfolios in Europe.

The financing round will help the company materialize its ambitious R&D plans and scale up sales by boosting its existing worldwide distribution network and further expanding its US salesforce. Augmenta will be offering features through over-the-air software updates, automating more farming operations such as pesticide spraying. The product team is planned to grow further, including more agronomists, software engineers and computer vision specialists.

Augmenta is one of the earliest-stage investments in Marathon’s portfolio. We got to be on the passenger seat from their first steps and we cannot wait to see what else the team will deliver in the coming years in their journey to augment the capacity of arable land and help feed the growing world sustainably.

Augmenta is on a mission to augment the capacity of arable land and help feed the growing population sustainably by automating the most impactful farming operations such as fertilization and pesticide/herbicide spraying

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👉 If you want to become a part of the team, check out current openings HERE.