Startup Source has involved an investment of 10 million dollars to make greenhouses smarter. The founders have set their sights on a horizon where, fueled by climate change and a rapid increase in global demand for food as the population continues to grow, more crops are forced to be brought indoors to ensure higher performance.
The $10 million funding round was led by Acre.vc Venture Partners with participation from the E14 Fund and food-focused investment firms Astanor, Agrocare and Rainbowgrowers.nl.
The company is developing software to make greenhouses smarter. The company argues that greenhouse farming is a safer, more reliable and more climate-resilient mode of food production, producing up to 15 times higher yields, using one-twentieth the water of traditional farming. What Source added to the mix is the ability to use data and AI to help greenhouses operate at even higher levels of efficiency and repeatability of high-yielding harvests.
“Climate change is causing substantial shortages and stresses on our global food supply. As this accelerates in the coming years, we must find ways to scale efficient farming solutions that lighten the footprint of agriculture,” said Lucas Mann, Managing Partner of Acre. “Greenhouse farming is a proven and viable solution, but without innovation, it will be impossible to meet demand. We believe that Source it can play a vital role in driving its global scalability.”
The funding will be used to accelerate product development and expand commercial collaborations.
“Greenhouses are in all forms, but not technically advanced. On the high-tech side, you want control over every dimension you can think of, including humidity, watering, and nutrition. Tomatoes, for example, do not grow in the ground. They go on substrate slabs. That means these operations are independent of arable land,” explains Rien Kamman, co-founder and CEO of Source. “Because you have more control, you will have to make more decisions every day. Growers make decisions about 60-70 parameters every day, which influences how this crop will grow for the rest of the season. You need to make the right decision every day. This could include how to feed the crop, specific plant parameters, pruning, etc. It really is a trade and that is why it remains so difficult. You need decades of experience to get it right.”
The complexity of the farming operation itself is not in question, and the argument of Source is to take all of these growth parameters, combine them with historical data on crop yields and market prices, etc., to create a better experience for growers.
“Our system is made up of two aspects. One is a recommendation system that evaluates the current status of the plant. Analyze forward-looking predictors like resource prices, weather, etc. And then he gives very concrete recommendations to the producer. What you need to do today and tomorrow, both in cultivation (ie how you should trim, prune, etc.) and the indoor climate around the plants to maximize sustainability and production. The second part is what happens when something doesn't go as planned? This is where algorithms come in,” says Kamman. “They collaborate with the different control systems to take that strategy and actually make sure that they implement it in the most efficient way possible.”
Indoor farming still requires a good deal of manual labor, especially for certain crops. But Source suggests that it may also be useful in these specialized cases.
The company is running on a SaaS model, charging growers on a sliding scale based on the amount of space they use for growing.
“Our belief is that agriculture is at a turning point in history. This is a massive market – the need for climate-resilient food systems is going to increase,” says Kamman. “I think what unites our investors and our team is that we are not looking so much for these short-term advantages, but rather to generate globally scalable knowledge.”
