Growers Network Staff

May 16, 2018 4 min read
May 16, 2018
4 min read

Motorleaf’s $2.85M Seed Round Accelerates AI in Greenhouse Operations

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Leading Investors Back Dynamic AI Technology That Improves Yield Predictions, Maximize Profits


MONTREAL, CANADA – May 15, 2018 – Motorleaf – an artificial intelligence startup focused on bringing actionable, data-driven insights to greenhouse and indoor operators –announced today it has raised $2.85 million USD to further develop its real-time, agronomic solutions for the fast-growing controlled-environment agriculture sector.

The investment, closed in two rounds with the final $2 million USD committed this May, is led by top ag- and food-tech accelerator fund Radicle Growth and includes support from Desjardins Capital, Real Ventures, Fluxunit (Osram Ventures), BDC Capital and 500 Startups Canada.

“Motorleaf is changing the way we grow in greenhouses and indoors with their application of enabling AI anywhere at any time,” says Radicle Growth CEO Kirk Haney. “Their technology has been proven in vegetable production environments and we are investing this capital to help the company scale.”

Motorleaf’s hardware and software hones-in on the human and environmental aspects of greenhouse production, helping to predict accurate harvest amounts in a tight-margin industry. By providing a digital agronomist, Motorleaf’s yield prediction tools help greenhouse operators meet contract obligations, better plan weekly operations and foresee production capacities in real time.

In initial trials with California greenhouse SunSelect, Motorleaf’s technology led to a 50-percent reduction in yield prediction error in tomatoes. These results were enough for SunSelect to adopt Motorleaf’s algorithms after a short trial. However, yield prediction is just the first step in Motorleaf’s solutions for producers.

“Better yield prediction is only the beginning for Motorleaf’s value to this sector,” says Motorleaf CEO Alastair Monk. “We’re ultimately producing dynamic grower protocols, which help manage everything from light and nutrients to predicting crop diseases before they happen, and optimized growing conditions that increase ROI – all based on real-time data.”

The next phase for Montreal-based Motorleaf will take a broad look at greenhouse conditions and apply the technology to multiple crops. The data insights will not be a one-time, static prediction, but allow growers to adjust growing conditions in real time and compensate for the unexpected.

“Motorleaf’s ability to apply automation by adding convenient hardware to preexisting greenhouse control systems makes them not only practical, but ready for today’s greenhouse industry,” says Haney. “The next round of solutions coming out of testing only highlight more of the potential insights this technology brings to the table.”

Motorleaf’s AI program stands to bring applicable, cost-cutting solutions to greenhouses surrounding labor, energy, over/under production and nutrient management. There are 52.3 billion square feet of greenhouses and indoor farms that can benefit from Motorleaf’s technology today.

Haney and Lars Roessler from Fluxunit will join Motorleaf’s Board of Directors, helping the company make connections with key industry players, expanding its global reach and furthering application of the machine learning algorithms in diverse indoor agriculture facilities.

About Radicle Growth

Radicle is an acceleration fund backed by leading AgTech investors including Finistere Ventures, Bayer Crop Science, DuPont Pioneer and OurCrowd. Radicle carefully selects innovative Ag and food tech startups for investment, ensuring that powerful, disruptive technologies reach their full potential. We provide a fertile environment for visionaries in the Ag space, not just to grow but to flourish. Our proprietary platform is the only one of its kind in the agriculture industry, filling a huge void in the market by identifying the most innovative technologies and accelerating them with a range of value- creation initiatives. To learn more, visit radicle.vc.

About Desjardins Capital

Desjardins Capital is a fund manager that offers strategic and financial support to growing businesses and innovative start-ups in Quebec. It specializes in investment capital and venture capital. Desjardins Capital offers tailored financing in the form of a loan or equity. With its team of experts, Desjardins Capital supports the growth of Quebec-based SMEs operating in various industries across the province.

About Real Ventures

Real backs world-class entrepreneurs building game-changing companies, connecting them to local and national ecosystems and helping guide them through their next stages of evolution. The firm invests throughout the life-cycle of early-stage companies and provides stage-appropriate capital and support for the founders it backs. Real believes that VCs should play a role in accelerating the creation of world-class tech ecosystems by providing support beyond the companies for whom it writes cheques. It’s this collaborative mindset that inspires Real to launch initiatives that lay, or build upon, the foundations of rapidly growing tech hubs in Canada, and wherever else the firm may go.

About Fluxunit

Fluxunit is the corporate venture unit of OSRAM. The firm invests in startups with novel technologies and innovative business models, seeking to accelerate companies’ growth by leveraging OSRAM’s leading position in the high-tech lighting industry.

About BDC Capital

BDC is the largest and most active early-stage technology venture investor in Canada, working with promising entrepreneurs and private sector investors to build outstanding Canadian companies. With more than $1 billion under management and almost 30 years’ experience, our venture capital investment professionals know what it takes to help Canadian entrepreneurs realize the full potential of their ideas—for themselves and for their backers.

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CONTACT:

Kayla Hedrick, Grit Marketing, LLC
309-657-1858
kayla@marketingandgrit.com


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