Deep Agro, an Argentine artificial intelligence startup, completed an initial financing round of USD$2 million.
Founded in Casilda, Santa Fe, in 2017, the startup aims to expand to Brazil in February of next year, leveraging its intelligent system designed to minimize the use of agrochemicals.
With this investment, the company also plans to explore new opportunities in the United States in the short term.
The five friends who founded the startup: Juan Manuel Baruffaldi (CEO), Juan Ignacio Cavalieri (CTO), Juan Ignacio Cornet (CRO), Iván Regali (Director of Human Resources), Marcos Mammarella (CSM), all from the National University of Rosario, developed a prototype based on a computer science thesis.
This prototype allows farmers to improve the efficiency of agricultural production. The company will initiate tests and validation in Brazil in the coming months, applying Deep Learning techniques in agriculture.
Additionally, this month, they will launch their first product in the neighboring country as part of a new phase with part of the team. Deep Agro won the Zurich Innovation Championship in 2020 for its innovative artificial intelligence solution.
The financing round was led by Draco Capital, with reinvestment from Grupo Dacas and the participation of prominent funds such as BYX Ventures, the investment arm of BYMA, Innventure, an investment fund of the Aapresid network, and Pampa Start, an AgTech fund, among others.
The founders emphasized that Artificial Intelligence is transforming all industries, including agriculture, which is expected to experience significant growth in the global AI market by 2026.
“Agriculture is not immune to this revolution. The global AI market in agriculture is projected to grow by USD$4 billion by 2026, with a CAGR [Compound Annual Growth Rate] of 25.5%,” they explained.
With the recent investment, Deep Agro aims to position itself as one of the leading companies in AI applied to agriculture worldwide.
The startup’s technology uses cameras on the spray boom to distinguish between crops and weeds, achieving a margin of error of 4% and an 80% savings in chemical products.
They highlighted that their technology has a triple impact by reducing the use of chemical products by 70% and decreasing environmental impact by 45%.
“With a first product of selective application that allows it to operate within crops and apply herbicides only on weeds. This will reduce the chemical product used by between 70 and 90%. In this way, savings of between USD$20 and USD$40 per hectare are achieved, and a 45% reduction in environmental impact caused by these applications,” they emphasized.
As part of their goals, the company, which emerged amid the economic crisis in Argentina, aims to reduce investment in agricultural inputs.
“More than USD$37 billion per year is allocated for weed control, of which 70% is wasted. Deep Agro aims to reduce that volume significantly, reinventing the spraying industry and rethinking the agrochemical market,” the founders added.
They assert they are optimistic about the company’s growth next year, projecting greater competitiveness and efficiency.
