Fermata, a data science company specializing in computer vision agriculture solutions, announced it closed $10 million in a Series A funding round backed by Raw Ventures. This funding will support the company’s vision of developing a centralized digital brain for the horticulture industry, enabling autonomous management of crops through advanced data analysis and creating a system that continuously learns from available data.
This agricultural industry is characterized by a dual challenge: on the one hand, much of it remains predominantly non-digital, with farmers relying on intuition and experience to identify and diagnose crop issues. This approach is often time-consuming and imprecise. On the other hand – even in advanced greenhouses where technology solutions are implemented – the volume of data generated can overwhelm growers, leaving them unable to extract meaningful insights. As a result, many continue to rely on traditional methods rather than utilizing the potential of the data to make informed, actionable decisions.
First focused on identifying pests and diseases, the funding will be used to expand Fermata’s system into a command center for crop health, further developing its suite of AI-driven solutions to address various agricultural challenges. And using advanced data analytics, the system monitors a wide range of plant health factors, from fertilization to pollination status, with future capabilities set to include forecasting tools like yield prediction tracking. Fermata’s Croptimus suite will process visuals collected through its products and integrate third-party data sources to build more accurate models.
If a grower is already using solutions for data collection, then this information could be integrated with Fermata’s products in the future to generate advanced predictive insights. Cameras can be installed to monitor plant health for growers who have not yet collected data.
As visual data is collected — whether from sensors or other sources — Fermata continuously uses it to improve the accuracy of its insights and predictions. And the company has already signed strategic collaborations with Microsoft, NVIDIA, Wageningen University, Bayer Crop Sciences, yieldsApp, and agRE.tech, and plans to continue partnering with industry leaders to expand its impact throughout the agriculture technology sector.
These capabilities build on Fermata’s current offerings as its Croptimus suite provides 24/7 crop monitoring through computer vision to ensure plants remain healthy while scouting for potential threats. And this approach has already demonstrated the potential to generate 30% savings on lost crops, while minimizing the need to use harmful pesticides. Fermata’s proprietary data enables them to build models that are accurate and highly efficient and cost-effective to run, further enhancing the scalability of their solutions.
KEY QUOTES:
“Over the past five years, Fermata has been on a journey to discover the best applications of computer vision to meet growers’ needs. We proudly call what we’ve built, ‘The Eyes of Ag.’ With the new funding, I’m thrilled to see Fermata scaling to bring all the other senses to the agricultural industry, ultimately evolving into its Brain. I’m happy we are a part of a global collaborative effort to shape the farming of tomorrow.”
– Valeria Kogan, Founder and CEO of Fermata
“Raw Ventures is proud to continue supporting Fermata, reaffirming our commitment to driving investments in sustainability. As always, our support goes far beyond funding, providing substantial resources to help the company succeed. This latest funding round highlights Fermata’s impressive achievements, including significant technological milestones, the development of impactful partnerships, and a transformative effort by its management team, which has guided the company from an early-stage startup toward becoming a resilient and mature business.”
– Victoria Palatnik, managing partner of Raw Ventures
