Aerobotics, a South African-based start-up, has raised $17 million in Series B round.
The South African start-up uses artificial intelligence to help farmers manage their farms, trees and produce.
The round of investment is led by South African internet company, Naspers, through its investment arm – Naspers Foundry.
According to Aerobotics, Naspers Foundry invested about $5.6 million, while other establishments like Cathay AfricInvest Innovation, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and Platform Investment Partners, also participated in the Seed funding.
The CEO of Aerobotics said the start-up plans to use the funding it received to continue developing more technology and facilitate product delivery, both for the U.S., and other markets.
“We’re committed to providing intelligent tools to optimize automation, minimize inputs and maximize production. We look forward to further co-developing our products with the agricultural industry leaders,” the CEO, Paterson said.
Aerobotics was Founded by James Paterson and Benji Meltzer in 2014. The start-up’s main focus is on building tools for fruit and tree farmers.
Aerobotics also uses artificial intelligence, drones and other robotics, to perform its functions.
The start-up’s technology helps track and assess the health of these crops, including identifying when trees are sick, tracking pests and diseases, and also running analytics for better yield management.
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The start-up prides itself for helping farmers prepare for stocks, predict the demand for their produce, and ensure farmers provide best quality produce.
According to a report by TechCrunch, Aerobotics has experienced record growth in the last few years.
Aerobotics claims to have the largest proprietary data set of trees and citrus fruit in the world, having processed 81 million trees and more than a million citrus fruit.
The 7-year-old startup is based in Cape Town, South Africa.
However, Aerobotics does not limit its services to the African continent. It has offices the United States, Australia, and Portugal; this is in addition to 18 African countries it operates in.