The “data revolution” that the world is experiencing along with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), will change the way the world addresses challenges, how businesses run, and how consumers interact with products. We are on the verge of a revolution that will affect all industries and societies alike. Below are recent articles highlighting developments in data and IoT. IoT Offers Bright Future, Says Harvard Professor by Jon Marcus on PTC According to … read more
Agtech Solutions to Food Security
Agriculture experts agree that innovations on the farm will be critical to ensuring that enough food is produced to feed the growing population. Entrepreneurs have stepped up to the challenge and agtech startups are popping up around the world offering innovating farming solutions that enable better efficiency and result in increased crop yields. Below are articles highlighting how agtech solutions can help to ensure global food security. Agtech Key to Feeding the World by 2050… read more
Innovations in Agriculture
At Invested Development, we believe innovative technologies in farming will play a key role in ensuring that food production meets the calorie needs of the growing global population. To date, we have invested in five ventures whose innovative technologies have applications in agriculture solutions: OnFarm, Cropin, iProcure, Rowbot, and Promethean Power Systems. Below are articles highlighting how innovation in farming technology is improving agriculture. Investing in Agriculture: Innovation is Changing … read more
Food & Agriculture
Finding a way to sustainably feed the world will require government initiatives, funding, and most importantly, technology solutions for farmers. The articles below highlight recent developments in initiatives to solve the global food problem. In poor countries, companies step in to fill gaps left by agriculture nonprofits by Sarah Shemkus on The Guardian Across developing countries, 2.5 billion farmers live on less than $4 a day according a recent report released by Acumen and Bain … read more
Agriculture and Food Security Developments
As the world population increases along with global incomes and standards of living, there will be over 9 million mouths to feed globally by 2050. This is a number we see, talk and read about often. To ensure food security for our future, changes must be made in the agriculture industry. Below are recent articles that innovation, progress in the sector and offer advice for continued development.
To feed the world, food and agriculture industry … read more
Why We Invest in Ag Tech
Farming may be one of the oldest industries, but there is no lack of opportunity for investment. Below are articles highlighting the need for innovations in agriculture, opportunities for investment, and the recent success of technology in the space.
Ag-tech could change how the world eats on Grand Haven Tribune
Venture capitalists are putting money into “ag tech” companies focused on anything from big data to drone technology, in an effort to feed the growing … read more
Updates from the AgTech Space
Agriculture Technology has the potential to tackle global problems of climate change and food security. We are happy to have had the opportunity to invest in technologies, such as the Rowbot, that are contributing to improvements in agriculture. Below are recent articles highlighting exciting developments in ag tech globally.
Ag Tech Avalance by Chris Bennett on AgWeb
“Big data and precision ag technology will be the most exciting front in technology for global agriculture for … read more
CropIn Technologies Joins ID’s BSP Fund Portfolio
We are excited to welcome CropIn Technologies to the BSP Fund portfolio. CropIn is a Bangalore-based software startup that makes farm operations efficient, transparent, and traceable. The software collects data from the field and makes it available to assist agri-businesses and farmers to improve productivity and sustainability. The cloud-based solution simplifies complex farming operations, especially those common to contract farming, an area ripe for technology innovation.
Contract Farming in India
Contract farming is … read more
Technological Advancements in Agriculture
The food and agriculture industry, from big to small, from the US to Africa, will undergo a new wave of technology adoption in the next 5-10 years. The core theme driving this adoption is the need for food security and food safety.
“Agricultural Technologies Could Increase Global Crop Yields as Much as 67 Percent and Cut Food Prices Nearly in Half by 2050” by International Food Policy Research Institute
The world’s population is … read more
Converging Trends in AgTech
We are always researching the latest innovations in the agriculture technology sector for potential investments for the BSP Fund. Here are some of the stories that caught our attention this week.
Robot Farmers are the Future of Agriculture, says Government by Fiona Harvey
Development of an increasing number of “farmbots” is beginning to take place in many countries. These robots and drones are specially made to perform time-consuming agricultural tasks, such as weeding, pruning, … read more
Push for Agricultural Technology
This week we focused on the growing push of technology in the agricultural sector. An estimated 50% of the world’s land is used for agriculture. With the world’s growing population, we need an increase in food production and sustainable agricultural practices to support upcoming generations. By 2050, the global population is expected to exceed 9 billion people. We are always looking for innovators and start-ups that can bring innovation and technology to the agricultural sector.… read more
Agriculture in Africa
Agriculture employs 65% of Africa’s labor force and accounts for 32% of gross domestic product overall. Of the 65% employed, smallholder farmers produce 80% of Africa’s food. With modern technology, African countries are taking initiatives to change the agricultural sector.
Science Agriculture Estate Programme to Begins Next Year on Ghana News Agency
On November 19, Seth Terkper, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, announced that the Ghanaian government will begin working on an … read more
Big Data in Agriculture
This week we focused on the use of Big Data in agriculture. Big Data is changing the agriculture market and creating sustainable farming. We are always looking for innovation and new start-ups that can lead us to sustainable farming methods.
The Next Big Market for Data and Connected Devices – Agriculture by Stacey Higginbotham on Gigaom
As the local food and sustainable farming movements grow, Big Data is helping farmers grow produce more food at … read more
Food Waste in the World
In this week’s reading we focused on food waste throughout the world. Each year nearly 30% of the world’s farmland is used to grow food that is not eaten, adding up to 4 billion tons of food waste. Food waste contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and cost inefficiencies. We are always looking for innovators and start-ups that can use technology to reduce this waste.
Fixation with food safety means so much of it goes to … read more
Agriculture’s Impact on Water
For this week’s reading, we focused on agriculture’s impact on water. By 2020, between 75 to 250 billion people will be exposed to water stress, a result of depleting fresh water resources. Although there are policy-driven efforts to reduce water stress and contamination, we are always looking for new technologies and initiatives that can have a greater impact on these global problems.
EPA ordered to assess fertilizer runoff by Colleen Scherer on AG Professional
Following … read more
Agriculture’s Impact on the Environment.
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
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
Agricultural Technologies for Irrigation
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
Mobile Tech Innovations in Agriculture
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