Aerobotics Hires Top Agronomist To Train AI How To Think About Growing Food

Aerobotics has brought on agricultural industry leader and technical agronomist Liaan Janse van Vuuren to further develop its intelligent tools for increasing and protecting yields.

As an industry stalwart, Liaan is training Aerobotics’ artificial intelligence in the field to equip growers and their advisers with an eye in the sky that sees everything and misses nothing when it comes to crop performance.

Aerobotics’ aerial imagery supports its industry-leading product suite, that includes insights on-farm health, tree canopy size, tree counts and missing tree counts. The company’s agricultural customer base use these insights to protect and increase the production of every hectare – work that has become increasingly important in light of environmental changes and ever-increasing population numbers.

Now, Liaan has joined the team to support Aerobotics’ customers in making the best possible decisions from their farm insights. He became an advocate for Aerobotics’ intelligent tools after seeing the value they offered his clients at Viking, Inc. where he was previously a Technical Advisor.

Liaan says, “With increasing demands from both the production and consumer sides, it is key to ensure optimal return on investment in every orchard. By closing the loop between accurate tree insights and agronomic actions, this goal suddenly becomes achievable. I look forward to playing an active role in increasing the overall value that we can add to growers and their crops and converting high-end data to knowledge delivery.”

Growth Capital

Last week, Aerobotics secured 250 million ($17 million) investment from Naspers.

The Series B round that was oversubscribed was led by Naspers, one of the world’s most powerful and lowest-flying investment firms, with significant participation from Platform Investment Partners, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation.

Last May, Naspers invested a R100 million investment in Aerobotics, through its earlystage business funding initiative Naspers Foundry.

Aerobotics has experienced record growth in the last few years. In the United States alone, the company’s revenue has grown in excess of an order of magnitude. The Series B investment will further technology development and product delivery in the United States and Aerobotics’ other core territories.

Aerobotics is a subscription-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides intelligent tools for the agricultural industry to manage its crops.

Aerobotics, founded by James Paterson and Benji Meltzer in 2014, is a leader in the application of artificial intelligence in agriculture. The insights Aerobotics provides to its clients include tree counts, the identification of missing trees, and the size and health of trees.