Seed-X Technologies, a US and Israel-based agri-food-tech startup announced that it has secured $10M in a Series A round of funding led by iAngels. Others, including venture capital funds Neva SGR, a part of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, and Champel Capital, also participated. The round brings Seed-X’s total funding raised to date to $20M.
How will the funding be used?
The new investment will allow Seed-X to accelerate its development and expand the market reach of its AI-powered seed sorting technology. The funding will accelerate sales and marketing efforts of its commercial solution to upgrade and optimise seed lots.
Seed-X also plans to expand collaborations and partnerships toward future solutions for the food industry.
In October 2021, Seed-X announced a collaboration agreement with Petkus, a manufacturer of seed and grain optical processing machines, to develop, manufacture, and distribute next-gen sorters powered by Seed-X’s proprietary AI technology.
“Our team consists of exceptional AI and deep learning experts, as well as molecular biology scientists. It allows us to aim very high and introduce our first commercial product within a short timeframe,” says Mr. Ashkenazi.
Optimising seed and grain sorting
Seed-X Technologies was founded in 2018 by Moti Shniberg and Sarel Ashkenazy, as part of Nacre Capital, a global venture builder.
The company’s image-based technology integrates AI, machine vision, and deep-learning algorithms to optimise seed and grain sorting at the single seed and grain level.
Seed-X operates out of California, with offices in the Netherlands and Israel, and serves over 50 customers worldwide.
Seed-X was recently selected out of hundreds of candidates, to join the RisingFoodStars Network of the European Institute of Innovation, to support the development of the company’s AI solution for the grain (food) industry.
“Amid a global food crisis, triggered by rising inflation rates, supply chain impediments, and an ongoing war, and given global food production will need to rise 70% by 2050 to satiate future demand, Seed-X is leading the next generation of grain-qualification technology. Their AI-powered seed and grain-analysis platform are helping farmers to reach maximum output potential for each seed. iAngels is proud to partner with the seasoned entrepreneurs dedicated to empowering today’s agriculture industry to work more sustainably, productively, and efficiently,” adds Shelly Hod Moyal, Founding Partner at iAngels.
“The sustainability of the agriculture supply chain is a crucial issue and it will become increasingly important in the future,” says Mario Costantini, CEO and General Manager of Neva SGR. “We decided to invest in Seed-X because it’s a very promising investment and a disruptive technology for the Agricultural value chain. Based on artificial intelligence and computer vision, it is able to improve the quality of food and to reduce waste.”
