VANCOUVER – Telus announced today that its investment arm Telus Ventures, along with BASF Venture Capital are among lead investors in a series B investment round for British startup Hummingbird Technologies.
Hummingbird is a startup which has become a leader advanced crop analytics, says the press release. Other main investors include Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) and the British investment firm Downing Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Hummingbird developed a technology platform to evaluate the condition of agricultural fields and its “artificial intelligence, deep learning and imagery analytics solution uses proprietary algorithms driven by aerial images captured from satellites, planes and unmanned aerial vehicles. It processes image data to create precise harvest forecasts or accurately calculate how much fertilizer is needed. With its high-resolution system, Hummingbird can also locate potential pest infestation, plant diseases or planting gaps,” reads the release.
Such data means real-time action, and efficiencies, for farmers working the approximately 2.2 billion hectares of agricultural land available worldwide.
“The investment will allow us to… pursue expansion opportunities that involve API (Application Program Interface) software integration and to extend our machine learning advantage at both a team and code level. We have a clear target to become the leading global remote sensing player in AgTech,” said Will Wells, Hummingbird’s CEO.
“We believe innovative companies like Hummingbird – that provide farmers with data-driven, user friendly platforms to drive decisions – have the potential for wide-scale adoption as farmers increasingly look for tools to improve their bottom lines and reduce their environmental impact,” said Rich Osborn, managing partner of Telus Ventures.
