AgriData Innovations

This interview details AgriData Innovations, an indoor farming technology company based in the Netherlands. The interview is with William Simmonds, CEO & Founder of AgriData Innovations.

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What is the origin story of AgriData Innovations?

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Back in 2014, Lucien Fesselet (co-founder & CTO) and I were introduced to the Dutch horticultural sector. We were both Aeronautical Engineers taking part in an Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor. The assignment was to find an industry problem and tackle it with technology. Thanks to Hans Ligtenberg we were introduced to Bunnik Plants in Bleiswijk. Students with drone in greenhouse

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We took off by flying our drone, named Barry, inside Dutch greenhouses. Essentially we started off with a man-in-a-van model, where we visited greenhouses and manually flew the drone. 

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Thanks to Yes! Delft and the educational startup programs we took part in, we were educated about proper market validation and developing a business. During the Validation Lab at Yes! Delft we realized the value was not so much the drone, but the data being collected by the drone. We were selling addressable datasets to the growers and the drone was just a means to an end. Specifically, we were selling heatmaps of Fusarium detection in Phalaenopsis Orchid greenhouses.  

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The progress we made with initial clients was sufficient to approach Rabobank and we received their AIL (Innovation Loan) on 01 January 2019. This was a big moment in our journey as we could build a small team and further develop our technology.

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Our vision is that CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) is a key part of future-proofing good production and agriculture. These CEA facilities are scaling so fast that there simply are not enough growers available to manage the facilities. Growers need tools to help them manage these facilities. That’s where ADI comes into the picture. We have a laser-sharp focus on deploying imaging systems and crop monitoring AI to enable data-driven cultivation. 

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ADI currently deploys imaging and crop monitoring AI through various systems. Our GA-Box (germination analysis box) enables digitised seedling assessments and imaging systems mounted to spraying booms giving real-time insights for production management.

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What are some of the biggest challenges facing AgriData Innovations in the future? 

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We have already made huge strides as a startup, having grown a world-class team and (almost) broken even in 2023. However, we have essentially just reached the bottom of the Valley of Death and now need to climb out the otherside.

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Our technology has never been so industrialised and we are scaling up our data-collection systems across multiple platforms and countries. This presents the first big challenge for us, making the transition from the initial MVPs to a scalable industrialized system that we can deploy in the 100s.

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There is the constant challenge of how aggressively we should grow. On the one hand, you have business fundamentals, such as breaking even and developing a healthy bottom line. On the other hand, you have the market opportunity and potential for further R&D investment, all of which will require us to dive deeper into the valley of death.

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The last significant challenge that comes to mind is about company culture. Today our team size is relatively small (15 people) and we manage to retain our startup vibe. I can see this becoming more difficult as we surpass 20 people. As we grow, how can we resist the bureaucracy and organizational limitations that may come accompany this growth.

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What is unique about AgriData Innovations compared to competitors? 

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We have a couple of unique advantages that will help us compete in such an active landscape:

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1. Location next to the Westland: ADI is located in Delft, the Netherlands, right next to the heart of global horticulture. A significant percentage of horticultural and greenhouse technology suppliers come from this area.
2. Partnerships: As we are so well located, we can build long-term relationships and sustainable partnerships with key players in the industry. This can be seen in our close collaborations with Delphy and Royal Brinkman, but also through our investors who are big names in the industry.
3. One-stop shop: We do hardware & software, enabling customers to have one supplier for data-collection equipment, computer vision software, and integration with their IT systems.
4. Retrofit strategy: We attach cameras to spraying booms and leverage existing infrastructure for data collection. This makes our system price-competitive with alternative data collection techniques.

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What are some other relevant metrics of the company (customer quantity, team size, etc.)?

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As of January 2024, ADI has made the following progress:

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13 systems active in 4 countries 

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6 million plants imaged each month

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15 amazing onsite team members

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What are some goals in 2024 and beyond for AgriData Innovations?

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The main goal for 2024 is to execute our system rollout plan, we have a clear roadmap up to 21 systems by the end of April and we are on track to successfully deploy these systems.

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The ADI business team will be present at IPM Essen, Fruit Logistica, HortiContact, GreenTech, and Seed Meets Technology. We will even be on stage talking at some of these events. The aim of these events being to develop partnerships and start new collaborations with new clients.

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Finally, we want to continue growing the team. In the upcoming weeks, we will hire an electrical engineer to help with the rollout of our data-collection systems. Soon after that, we will be looking for an embedded software developer to help with the software that manages our devices.

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How can people connect with you or learn more about AgriData Innovations?

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We stay active on LinkedIn, so follow our page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agridata-innovations/

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You can check out our website: https://www.agridatainnovations.nl/

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Or reach out directly to pim@adinnovations.nl

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