GrainCorp backs agtech company ZoomAgri with $9M

Added on 26 July 2023

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GrainCorp backs agtech company ZoomAgri with $9M

ZoomAgri, a global agtech firm specializing in varietal recognition and quality testing via artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), has secured a $9 million investment in a funding round co-led by GrainCorp and GrainInnovate, a venture capital fund partnership between Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC) and Artesian. Additional participation came from existing investor SP Ventures.

ZoomAgri is known for its advanced AI-powered solutions that expedite and improve accuracy in agricultural commodity testing. The agtech firm has already made inroads into the Australian barley testing market and is using the Series A investment to scale its operations and expand commodity coverage.

Robert Spurway, GrainCorp CEO, is enthusiastic about ZoomAgri’s potential. The company has been trialling two ZoomAgri units at its receival sites on the east coast of Australia for the past few years. “They have developed advanced prototypes during the last three years for variety testing and physical quality determination, and our investment will support more product development into new commodities, such as wheat,” Spurway stated.

ZoomAgri’s cutting-edge technology could also address other industry challenges, such as labour shortages, result accuracy, and the delay associated with getting results. “We’re backing solutions that will add value to the grower’s business and drive a consistency of standard testing-outcome tolerances on site,” added Spurway. “We are supporting the continued modernisation of the grains industry with the use of AI.”