Catalyzing Innovations that Matter
With every action comes a consequence. In our reading this week, we focused on the consequences of agricultural practices on the environment. We are always looking for new investments that can solve these worldwide problems.
“Water pollution” by C Michael Hogan on The Encyclopedia of Earth
With 50 millions annual deaths worldwide due to contaminated water, water pollution has become a serious, global health risk. Unfortunately, agriculture is one of the biggest water … read more
Invested Development Invests in OnFarm Systems to Improve Decision-Making on the Farm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2013
Boston, MA & Fresno, CA – Invested Development (ID), an early stage investment fund manager, has invested in OnFarm Systems, an agriculture technology startup. OnFarm offers an innovative SaaS solution that increases farm productivity and profits. OnFarm’s technology combines multiple data sources into one user-friendly, cloud-based dashboard to make decision-making on the farm easier.
Growers are rapidly … read more
You may have noticed over the last few months that we’ve expanded our focus to technology in agriculture. After years of investing and months of research, “ag tech” is now an active sector focus, but it’s always been an area of interest for us. In fact, two of our portfolio companies, SlimTrader and Promethean Power, deploy their technologies with farmers. Over the last few months, we’ve seen a flurry of activity in the ag … read more
We are always researching the latest innovations in the agriculture sector for potential investments for the BSP Fund. Here are some of the stories that caught our attention in the irrigation and agriculture fields. If you’re working on an innovative irrigation system, apply for investment consideration here.
Government Eyes Irrigation Law to Boost Farm Sector by Madalitso Mwando
Zimbabwe, previously one of the largest food producers in Africa, has struggled in past years … read more
We are always looking for our next BSP Fund investments and researching the latest innovations in the mobile tech and agriculture sectors. Here are some of the stories that caught our interest this week.
Digital Farming- New App to Help Horticulture by Agatha Ngotho on The Star
A new app has been developed in Kenya to help over 50,000 farmers with data management. The Farmforce software is designed to help farmers manage and file the … read more
Ag tech startups and innovation continue to make headlines around the world. Here are this week’s stories covering our exciting new sector focus.
“(Nearly) Unlimited Food” by Ramez Naam on The Huffington Post X Prize Blog
One of the main reasons why we have increased our focus on ag tech is the potential for impact on food production and hunger. Demand is rising with population growth and so are food prices. Accordingly to … read more
It’s no secret that the agriculture space is a hot sector. At ID, we’re finding many opportunities that leverage mobile and information technology to improve efficiency for the small farmer. This Weekly Review features stories on the collaboration of technology and agriculture around the world.
“Unleashing Ugandan Farmers’ Potential Through Mobile Phones” by Kyla Yeoman on Global Envision
MobiPay Kenya has developed a unique application designed with small African farmers in mind. AgriLife… read more
From agriculture to broadband, payments to people, mobile technology continues to impact every facet of Africa’s burgeoning economic growth.
“Africa: Raising the Bar on Agricultural Innovation” by Wendy Atkins on All Africa
An increasingly interesting area for us is agriculture. Mobile technology innovation has lots of applications and benefits, and more frequently experts are looking to it to solve the world’s food production gaps, especially in Africa. From the GSMA, to governments across … read more