Biobest, a global leader in biocontrol and pollination and ecoation, a pioneer in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies for horticulture today announced stepping-up their initial commercial collaboration. Biobest invests $ Can 10 Mio in ecoation. Biobest’s CEO, Jean-Marc Vandoorne, and COO, Karel Bolckmans, join ecoation’s board of directors. Furthermore, the parties join forces to develop new IPM related technologies and go global with their commercial alliance.
The Biobest investment follows on the heels of $10M in public funding from the Canadian government and an earlier infusion of $2.5M from existing investors through a round led by Pallasite Ventures. This infusion of $22.5 M CAD will support a successful commercial roll-out of ecoation’s cutting-edge dynamic data harvesting platform based on a combination of deep biology, computer vision, sensor technology, AI, and robotics.
Jean-Marc Vandoorne, Biobest CEO says, “We have been impressed not only by ecoation’s technology leadership but also by their deep connection with leading growers. Their capacity to deploy a broad array of new technologies to deliver practical and economical solutions for the world’s most ambitious greenhouse growers is truly outstanding. Saber and his team are deeply committed to make a contribution to sustainability in horticulture and realize the immense potential for further data-driven advances in biological control and integrated pest management. Together we have all it takes to be the best-in-class in IPM in the upcoming era of data-driven greenhouse crop production. Our teams are excited about these joint developments and committed to show growers the path from Artificial Intelligence to Additional Income.”
“We started interacting with Biobest three years ago and today is the beginning of a substantial new chapter in our collaboration,” says Dr. Saber Miresmailli, founder and CEO of ecoation. “Besides our shared vision for the future of agriculture, we also share the same values. We are passionate about sustainability and have a relentless drive to provide world class service to our customers. We nurture our colleagues to grow and to use their talent to make the world a better place. We believe in collaboration and have the humility to constantly and continuously improve our offerings. This shared vision is a strong foundation for success and Biobest’s worldwide network will help us make a difference on a global scale.”
Source : Biobest