Regarding the commercialization of agricultural technology, the founder of FarmbloxNathan Rosenberg stressed that it is critical to understand that farmers should not be forced to make decisions.
According to Rosenberg, farmers belong to multiple generations and their work is not limited to a profession, but constitutes a community rooted in a way of life that deserves to be respected. He stresses the importance of not imposing guidelines from a perspective foreign to the agricultural reality, such as that of a Silicon Valley technology professional.
Rosenberg said Farmblox approaches agtech differently than its predecessors. The startup has developed a solar-powered connected monitor. Farmers link it to third-party sensors already in use, allowing them to monitor things like soil moisture and water usage in a more automated way. This information is fed back to an AI-powered automation platform, accessible to farmers from any location.
Rosenberg said that if they are told about the ability to improve performance through sophisticated artificial intelligence, they are unlikely to believe it. However, they will be willing to accept the idea of not having to manually verify a specific aspect.
Within a period of 18 months, the company has acquired a total of 55 farms. According to Rosenberg, this acquisition is due to Farmblox’s ability to provide farmers with autonomy in customizing and implementing farming systems.
Rosenberg stressed the importance of farmers carrying out the installation themselves, noting that the company does not provide a full support service. Although they are available to provide support if needed, farmers carry out the installation process autonomously and with little documentation.
According to Rosenberg, Farmblox was designed to address the biggest challenge facing farms today: staff shortages. Farmblox aims to assist farms in reducing the number of workers needed at any given time. The entrepreneur mentioned that as a teenager he worked part-time on an organic farm, where his job consisted of constantly making trips to check sensors, which was inefficient. In contrast, Farmblox seeks to automate this process.
The company now spans over 14.000 acres of farmland. Rosenberg is using his profits as one of the top three Minecraft developers to support the startup. Farmblox recently secured $2,5 million in a seed funding round led by Hyperplane, with participation from Slow Ventures, MHS Capital, and Service Provider Capital.
As reported by Vivjan Myrto, founder and managing partner of Hyperplane, he learned about Farmblox at a startup event hosted by his Boston-based company. Hyperplane had invested in several agtech startups, through which Myrto identified that water scarcity is emerging as a growing challenge for the agricultural sector.
While Farmblox is not primarily focused on water conservation or waste, it can help monitor water on farms. The company’s previous experience has not been a hindrance. According to Myrto, “We were very impressed that this device was able to acquire over 50 customers in 18 months. In this industry, farm automation has historically been cost-prohibitive.” What sets Farmblox apart is its solar-powered bay station, which stands out for its affordability. It also has data and sensors that significantly outperform other similar devices.
Farmblox's initial operations focused on high-value tree crops such as maple, vineyards and fruit orchards because of the ability to keep sensors on the trees after the harvest is over. In contrast, for crops such as tomatoes, the entire plant needs to be uprooted at the end of each season. Rosenberg expects the company to move toward lower-profit crops in the future.
The company will use the initial funds to expand to a larger number of farms.
Rosenberg said they are working on developing tools that can monitor and provide farmers with real-time information. These tools are also linked to automation processes in order to generate innovative proposals that can be applied on farms.
