Congratulations to S2G portfolio companies Arable, IUNU and Trace Genomics for being honored in this year’s AgTech Breakthrough Awards. The awards, announced this week, recognize the best agricultural and food technology companies, products and services worldwide.
The agtech sector plays an essential role in climate sustainability efforts and food production. With the growth and technologies put forth by our portfolio partners along with other businesses, we are witnessing substantial progress in agricultural land optimization, farm output and positive environmental impacts. Innovation in artificial intelligence and data storage have enabled computer systems to make critical decisions for all types of growers.
Agtech is a key theme in our 10 Trends Shaping the Future of Food report, and we believe entrepreneurs in this space, such as our portfolio companies below, will be essential players in accelerating change throughout the sector.
Arable
Crop Monitoring Solution of the Year
For the second consecutive year, AgTech Breakthrough recognized Arable, with the company earning “IoT Monitoring Solution of the Year” honors in 2021. Arable’s crop monitoring solution eliminates the complexity of collecting and synthesizing in-field data and provides agricultural professionals with easy access to critical decision-making information, such as water stress, pest and disease risk, and nutrient response indicators. With this insight into their crop systems, users are gaining favorable results across a wide range of applications, including irrigation management, crop input optimization, farm logistics, research and sustainability verification.
The award is one of several high-profile milestones for Arable in the past 12 months. In July, the company closed its Series C round of funding, raising $40 million for product development and service and geographic expansion. Earlier in the year, Arable announced a key strategic partnership with Bayer, in which the two companies will leverage Arable’s field-level sensing technology to understand the impacts of hyper-local weather conditions on seed performance. Furthermore, in December 2021, the company expanded its footprint into India, opening an engineering and commercial facility in Bangalore.
IUNU
Farm Management Company of the Year
IUNU also was once again recognized by AgTech Breakthrough, after having earned the “AI-based AgTech Solution of the Year” award in 2021. In the past year, IUNU has made several strategic acquisitions, bringing in both Artemis and CropWalk, thus expanding its broad suite of services for indoor growers to optimize their output. IUNU’s flagship SaaS product, LUNA, provides cultivation management services for controlled environment agriculture facilities and also imaging solutions that deliver real-time analytics in farming operations. With CropWalk, IUNU provides integrated pest management advisory services, allowing growers to develop and augment their pest and pathogen control programs. The company continues to grow, closing a $24 million Series B financing round in March to expand global sales and develop new products.
Trace Genomics
Farm Management Innovation of the Year
Trace Genomics uses soil science, genomics, and machine learning to provide soil health and productivity insights through the Trace Environment Soil System (TESS). This platform leverages soil DNA diagnostics, including chemical and biological soil analysis, a Sustainable Soil Performance Rating and applications for biologicals. Through TESS, Trace enables agricultural companies, farmers and agronomists to make data-based management decisions.
Trace has made several key leadership moves this year. In February, the company promoted co-founder Poornima Parameswaran to President, and in March, Trace welcomed Steve Dietze as its Vice President of Strategic Operations. In addition to advancing several partnerships with ag-focused businesses, Trace has also been recognized recently by multiple organizations as a leader in agtech innovation.
