Greeneye Closes New Funding Round

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (DTN) -- Greeneye Technology announced Wednesday morning that it closed a $20 million funding round to finance the continuing expansion of its artificial intelligence-enabled precision spraying business in the United States.

"Securing this round of capital in today's challenging economic climate is further validation of Greeneye's mission to drive mainstream adoption of precision spraying technology in the U.S," said Nadav Bocher, a founder and CEO of Greeneye Technology.

The new funding round came in the midst of an eventful year for Greeneye. New in the field for 2024 are Greeneye-designed booms. Greeneye is expanding to a new crop, cotton. It also is taking the first steps into smart applications of two additional inputs -- micronutrients and fungicides.

According to Greeneye, it has put "dozens" of its two-tank precision systems in the field this year, mostly in the Midwest and South, and is nearly sold out for 2025. Here are some 2024 product updates.

BOOMS

Greeneye is fielding a proprietary 120-foot aluminum boom. The booms have been engineered specifically for Greeneye hardware and will speed up installation of its spraying application onto existing sprayers.

"We are laser-focused as a company on after-market (solutions). We are offering farmers to retrofit their existing machines, regardless of the color, brand, model with the Greeneye system," Bocher told DTN/Progressive Farmer. "What we understood at an early stage, and some people underestimated, is the importance of the boom. When you add all this new technology -- 24 cameras, 12 GPUs, cable, 72 lights, 144 nozzles -- there is a fair bit of risk farmers are taking. There is wear-and-tear on those booms."

To resolve these issues, Greeneye took on design and manufacture of its booms. "When a farmer is buying a Greeneye system, he is also buying a Greeneye boom," Bocher said.

MARKET EXPANSION

This year, Greeneye is delivering its two-tank, precision sprayers to cotton growers, as a third crop, in addition to corn and soybeans.

PRODUCT PIPELINE

Greeneye is focused on precision application of herbicides through its two-tank solution (broadcast residual and spot spray non-residual applications). However, that precision application system opens to other opportunities, Bocher said.

"We are looking closely at fungicides and micronutrients, which will be available in 2024," he said. "Precisely applying these products, only where needed, only on the crop, not the entire field."

This is a capability that will expand with time. Step one is already available. The Greeneye system can apply micronutrients and fungicide just onto the crop, eliminating waste where it falls onto bare soil. "This will evolve into a place where it's not just on the crop, but also where it is needed and how much is needed," Bocher said. He believes technology can reduce usage by 20% to 40%.

DEALER-BASED MODEL

Greeneye stated it believes that for its system to be scalable, it must have working relationships with dealers.

"We are gradually moving to work with local dealers. Those dealers are selling the system, installing the system and servicing the system," Bocher said. "Dealers are close to the customer and provide the best possible support."

Greeneye said it will soon be announcing its first dealer partnership.

GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT (GPU)

Greeneye is introducing its own GPU. "GPUs are the brain of the system. They do all the processing in real-time," Bocher said.

"We are not sourcing them off the shelves. We are designing and developing GPUs from scratch. No one else can buy it."

FINAL NOTES

Greeneye added Tobias Menne to its advisory board in March. Menne brings more than two decades of experience in developing and scaling ag tech products and businesses for companies including Bosch BASF Smart Farming (now One Smart Spray), xarvio Digital Farming Solutions and Bayer.

The latest funding round, announced Wednesday morning as completed, is supported by existing investors Syngenta Group Ventures, JVP, Orbia Ventures, and Eyal Waldman, the founder and former CEO of Mellanox (now part of Nvidia), as well as new investors Iron Nation and Amol Deshpande, the founder and former CEO of FBN. Also, as part of today's announcement, Greeneye adds Barak Ben Eliezer, managing partner at Deep Insight, to its Board of Directors.

To date, the company has raised $45 million in funding.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com

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