Pymwymic, a leading impact investor, and Horticoop, a group of about 400 members active in Horticulture globally have acquired a significant new stake in Vivent to help accelerate its expansion to new markets. Both Netherlands-based investors recognize the transformative effect Vivent’s crop health solutions have in improving the profitability of growers and the sustainability of food production.
Vivent pioneers unique AI-enabled technology that gives farmers and agtech businesses early warning of disease, pests, nutrient deficiencies, and water stress, using biological signals from the plants themselves. Vivent’s wearables for plants provide alerts long before visual symptoms appear so growers can treat plants earlier. Vivent’s product is the first commercial crop health diagnostic system based on plant electrophysiology –internal electrical signals plants use to coordinate growth, reproduction and defence. The technology leads to optimized growing recipes, increased yields, and improved crop protection effectiveness. It also encourages the adoption of environmentally preferable crop protection solutions – so more food with fewer inputs.
“We are delighted to have Pymwymic and Horticoop join our ownership group, as we increase sales and refine product offerings to new agricultural sectors. They are both driven by deep connections with sustainable agriculture and their involvement reinforces the industry’s growing interest in plant centered cultivation”, comments Vivent co-founder and CEO, Carrol Plummer
“Using recent advances in machine learning, we can now decipher the internal network in plants and learn exactly what they need ,” says Dr Nigel Wallbridge, Vivent co-founder. “With our new investors we can deliver plant-driven responsive sustainable agricultural systems of all kinds.”
Vivent solutions are successfully deployed in greenhouses and indoor farms and are increasingly used for field-grown crops, like potatoes, apples, grapes, canola and sugar beet, meaning it can serve a wide range of growers and crops across Europe and North America. In addition, Vivent also works with suppliers of innovative agricultural technology, including crop protection products, fertilizers, irrigation systems and supplementary lighting to demonstrate plant responses these treatments. Plant breeders can quickly assess resilience of new plant varieties to a wide range of crop stressors.
“We are convinced of the disruptive potential of the technology and hence excited about supporting the team at Vivent,” says Wilco Schoonderbeek, Director Investments at Horticoop BV. “We are delighted to support Vivent on their journey to unlock the ‘language of plants’ and deepen our knowledge of how to manage plant stress. It is remarkable to see precisely how plants respond to stressors in the environment and to learn how we can use these signals to support better crop management in the face of climate change.” Monique Meulemans, Pymwymic Investment Manager
(Press release / ES)
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