The Edge of TechMost promising Israeli startups: 3 agtech companies to watch in 2024
The Edge of Tech
Most promising Israeli startups: 3 agtech companies to watch in 2024
Bluewhite, Greeneye, and Gigablue were the highest-ranked agtech companies in this year's list of the 50 most promising Israeli startups
This month Calcalist published its annual list of the Top 50 Most Promising Israeli Startups. One sector that continued to thrive was agtech. As one of the most optimistic sectors in Israel, agtech continued to show just what Israeli companies can achieve to boost innovative solutions for the betterment of the country and the world.
Bluewhite
Sector: Agrotech | Established: 2017 | Founders: Ben Alfi, Yair Shahar, and Aviram Shmueli | Employees: 150 (in Israel and the USA) | Funding: $89 million from Insight Partners, Entrée Capital, Clal Insurance, Allied Investments, Regah Ventures, Peregrine Ventures, and Jesselson
The field of advanced agriculture, or agrotech, holds immense significance for global food security, yet few companies have emerged as major players. The ongoing food security crisis, exacerbated by population growth and shrinking agricultural areas, underscores the urgent need for solutions. Various technologies aim to address the issue, from altering crop cultivation methods to optimizing farmers' work and conserving labor. One standout company poised to revolutionize agriculture is Bluewhite (formerly Blue White Robotics). Named after the colors of the Israeli flag, BWR has developed an autonomous robotic solution for diverse agricultural tasks. Their technological solution combines hardware and software, facilitating convenient management of agricultural vehicle fleets and remote information retrieval. The company's hardware can be installed on any tractor, enabling autonomous navigation and task execution, such as sowing, spraying, cutting, and harvesting, even in challenging conditions.
Their software analyzes received data, providing real-time insights and reports to ensure farm operational efficiency. Led by founders Ben Alfi, Yair Shahar, and Aviram Shmueli, Bluewhite aims to bridge the gap between agriculture and technology, enhancing productivity and addressing labor shortages. Their systems enable a single operator to manage eight tractors simultaneously, specializing in orchards with a focus on vines, oranges, apples, and almonds. A recent funding round of $39 million will fuel Bluewhite's vision of autonomous tractor deployment across numerous farms and states in the United States. Presently, the company serves 20 significant customers covering approximately 600,000 dunams, with 150,000 autonomous tractor hours logged. With impending agreements with leading distributors, Bluewhite anticipates significant revenue growth and sustained visibility for years to come.
Greeneye
Sector: Agrotech | Established: 2017 | Founders: Nadav Bocher, Dr. Itzhak Khait and Alon Klein-Orback | Employees: 50 in Israel and the USA | Funding: $45 million from Deep Insight, JVP, Syngenta Group Ventures, Orbia Ventures, FBN, and Eyal Waldman
Agriculture is a field that needs technology and cost-cutting measures. Every farmer knows that many resources are wasted in the field unnecessarily: too much water in irrigation, too much fertilizer for plants, and every year, farmers around the world use millions of gallons of herbicides - the vast majority of which are sprayed wastefully and ineffectively, on bare soil or the crop. The increased use of chemicals causes damage to the environment, and the weeds develop resistance to herbicides, so the economic burden on farmers increases significantly.
Israeli agtech company Greeneye, founded by entrepreneurs who served together in the elite Air Force unit Shaldag, has developed a system that combines hardware and software that saves those farmers a lot of resources. The system allows farmers to go from uniform spraying of pesticides over the entire field to surgical and precise spraying only on the weeds in it. Greeneye's system interfaces with any existing sprayer, regardless of its model, and turns it into a smart machine. According to the company's assessment, the system it developed has proven to reduce herbicide use in farming by 88%.
Gigablue
Sector: Cleantech | Funding: Unknown, from fresh.fund, At One Ventures, E44 Ventures, and Global Innovation Technology Ventures
Gigablue focuses on large-scale carbon capture and removal by utilizing science, AI, and natural processes. They aim to help corporations and governments achieve negative emission goals. Their approach includes mimicking Earth's carbon capture processes, employing AI to optimize the impact and efficiency of deployments, and enhancing phytoplankton growth in oceans to sequester carbon. Gigablue collaborates with merchant fleets, governments, and major corporations for this purpose.
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