AUGMENTA (www.augmenta.ag) announces the completion of a $8 million Series A funding round by leading tractor manufacturer CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) (https://www.cnhindustrial.com), and one of the first impact investors in EU, Pymwymic (https://pymwymic.com) alongside existing investors Marathon Venture Capital (https://marathon.vc) and HCVC (https://www.hardwareclub.co).
The investment will expedite Augmenta's penetration into the precision agriculture market, spearheaded by its revolutionary, camera-driven, retrofit system that fully automates the most impactful agricultural operations.The Augmenta system currently supports real-time Nitrogen, Plant Growth Regulator (PGR), and Harvest Aid (HA) applications, with more services like Green on Brown (GoB) pesticide spraying already in the R&D roadmap, all of which will be available through over-the-air software updates.
It is commercially available in Europe, CIS, North and South America, and Australia. Farmers cite cost savings and ease of use among the principal benefits.The Augmenta system is mounted on the cabin roof of any ordinary tractor or self-propelled sprayer/spreader and uses multispectral cameras and AI to evaluate the foliage status as well as other visual patterns like damaged or flooded spots. It controls Variable Rate (VR) implements to automatically apply appropriate amounts of fertilizers or chemicals in real time and in a single tractor pass. By applying inputs as needed, rather than the traditional 'blanket coverage' approach, waste is significantly reduced, and greater sustainability achieved.
Moreover, input costs are kept down while crop uniformity is promoted, and yield potential maximized.Augmenta operations have been carried out on hundreds of fields across 16 countries around the world. Average input reductions for broad acre crops observed to date are 9% for Nitrogen, 20% for PGR and 15% for Harvest Aids compared to traditional practices, with an average yield increase of 2%.
“This investment round will help us expand our distribution network around the world and accelerate our ambitious R&D plans”
said George Varvarelis, Augmenta's Co-founder & CEO.
“We are excited to collaborate with a top tier OEM like CNH Industrial and a prominent impact investor like Pymwymic. They share our vision of 'Green Technology without Silos' and are determined to help us provide solutions to empower all farmers, regardless of the size of their land or their preferred tractor brand.”
“CNH Industrial is delighted to partner with Augmenta, as this collaboration will provide CNH Industrial’s customers with accelerated access to productivity enhancing precision automation technologies, alongside significant sustainability benefits,”
said Moten Schmidt, Global Leader, Digital and Precision Solutions & Telematics, Agriculture Segment, CNH Industrial.
“The way we produce food today requires a real transition. We need to produce better food with less. Pymwymic supports the innovators who contribute to this required change in behavior. We consider Augmenta’s solution as a real breakthrough in the market providing farmers a plug and play tool to directly reduce their negative footprint. Augmenta will reduce the chemical load in the soils, improve the quality of the produce and at the same time reduce costs – the perfect example that good business models combine both profit while having a positive impact on our planet,”
said Rogier Pieterse, Managing Director at Pymwymic.
Augmenta’s mission is to augment the capacity of arable land and help feed the growing world sustainably. If you are interested to learn more about the product or become a part of our distribution team, contact us HERE.
Augmenta is the creator of an innovative real-time, camera-based system that retrofits pre-owned farming equipment and automates the most impactful farming operations like nitrogen and chemical applications. With a growing global presence in Europe, CIS, North and South America and Australia, it has already made important inroads into its mission of augmenting the capacity of arable land in an environmentally sustainable way.
CNH Industrial N.V. (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) is a global leader in the capital goods sector with established industrial experience, a wide range of products and a worldwide presence. Each of the individual brands belonging to the Company is a major international force in its specific industrial sector: Case IH, New Holland Agriculture and Steyr for tractors and agricultural machinery; Case and New Holland Construction for earth moving equipment; Iveco for commercial vehicles; Iveco Bus and Heuliez Bus for buses and coaches; Iveco Astra for quarry and construction vehicles; Magirus for firefighting vehicles; Iveco Defence Vehicles for defence and civil protection; and FPT Industrial for engines and transmissions. More information can be found on the corporate website: www.cnhindustrial.com
cFounded in 1994, Pymwymic is the “Put Your Money Where Your Meaning Is Community”, a co-owned organization of European wealth holders who take a frontrunner role in the transition towards investing with care for people and planet. A community that consists of over 150 individuals, families, entrepreneurs and angel investors of different backgrounds, ages and nationalities. We currently invest through funds, the Pymwymic Healthy Ecosystems impact fund, a venture capital fund that invests in early to growth stage companies which are transforming the food system through innovative and disruptive technologies. By combining our knowledge, passion and money, we bring credibility to the impact investing industry and continuously push for higher standards until investing with care for people and planet is the new norm. Questions about our work? Contact: rogier@pymwymic.com
Marathon Venture Capital is a seed-stage venture capital fund, helping ambitious founders build world-class technology companies. With about $100m under management, Marathon has provided the first check in category-leading companies, such as Augmenta, Netdata, Lenses.io, Causaly, and Hack The Box.
HCVC is a venture capital firm that backs ambitious founders in a mission to automate and digitize the physical world. HCVC also supports hardtech companies worldwide through Hardware Club, its selective community counting more than 550 companies in 40 countries as members. To learn more about HCVC, visit www.hcvc.co.