New funding will further international expansion as company eyes new partnerships and acquisitions
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Semios, a leading precision-farming platform and one of the world's largest independent agtech solutions providers, today announced it has raised $100 million in funding led by Morningside Group, a Boston-based private equity and venture capital firm committed to investing in socially responsible businesses. This funding will enable the agtech provider to accelerate its R&D and deployment of solutions to help growers worldwide reduce chemical inputs, better manage water, organize farming data and improve crop outcomes.
"Semios is on a mission to simplify the grower's experience, leveraging big data analytics and machine learning to help them mitigate crop risk so they can focus on growing more food, more sustainably," said Dr. Michael Gilbert, CEO of Semios. "We have seen first hand the challenges our customers are facing in the field – from severe drought and devastating fires, to frost, reduced profitability and an increasing regulatory burden. But, in the face of these challenges, farmers are adapting to meet the nutritional needs of our growing population with new technologies. Our recent acquisitions are aimed at bringing the tools farmers need to manage their crops under one roof. This latest round of funding will help us continue to support the agricultural industry as it faces some of its toughest challenges yet."
To-date, Semios has raised over $225 million in external capital. Last year, Semios announced $100 million in funding, also led by Morningside Group, that bolstered the company's balance sheet for the acquisitions of Altrac, Centricity and Agworld in 2021. The integration of third-party agricultural solutions into its crop management platform is helping growers get the most accurate view of their crop's development as it happens, all in one place, leading to improved decision making and ultimately better crop outcomes amidst a more volatile climate and challenging growing conditions.
"Morningside invests in companies committed to tackling pressing global challenges head on," said Mick Sawka, Investment Manager at Morningside Group. "The ability to not only maintain but also enhance the sustainability of our food systems amid the complex dynamics of a changing climate is one of the world's most pressing needs of our time. Semios is a leader in helping farmers respond to this challenge and we're proud to stand beside them."
With more than 120 million acres of row and permanent crops under management today, Semios serves growers, agronomists and ag retailers across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and South Africa with solutions as diverse as farm management planning, logistics and execution, record keeping, agronomy and automation.
UBS Investment Bank acted as the exclusive placement agent for Semios.
About Semios
Founded in 2010, Vancouver-based Semios offers Precision Agriculture as a Service™ that started with real-time crop data and pest management tools for growers of tree fruit, nuts and other permanent crops. Leveraging a network of sensors that provide more than 500M data points measuring climate, soil moisture, insect and disease activity daily, we apply big data analytics and machine learning to reduce and mitigate crop risks for growers. Semios has been named to the Global Cleantech 100, an annual list of the 100 most innovative cleantech companies globally, and the Thrive Top 50, list of the 50 leading global AgTech companies. In 2021, Semios acquired Altrac, Centricity and Agworld to form one of the world's largest independent AgTech solutions providers.
Learn more about Semios at www.semios.com.
About Morningside Venture Investments:
Morningside is a diversified investment group founded in 1986 and engaged in private equity and venture capital investments. Morningside is an active investor in early-stage life science companies formed around new technologies that represent a high degree of novelty over existing technologies.
More information is available at www.morningside.com.
Media Contact: Lindsay Chan, lchan@national.ca