Sentera Announces Series C Funding Expansion

Round positions for profitability, accelerates key growth initiatives

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentera, an industry-leading provider of ag analytics, announced today a successful expansion of its previously oversubscribed Series C funding round. The round was led by Conti Ventures (a division of Continental Grain Company) and S2G Ventures. Following this round, Sentera forecasts that its capital requirements to achieve profitability and positive cash flow are fully funded.

Sentera's data science ecosystem is an industry leader by combining aerial data collection with machine learning engines that deliver more accurate plant-level measurements and insights. Its customers, which include agriscience leaders in research and product development, are empowered to advance their work by getting essential data to validate outcomes, augment product development, and support sustainability initiatives.

"We believe Sentera has unlocked value for its enterprise customers and partners with differentiated technology illustrated by its accelerated growth and blue-chip customer list," said Chris Abbott, co-head, Conti Ventures. "In an environment where current capital markets continue to put stress on AgTech fundraising, we believe this funding is a strong statement about the durability, momentum, and outstanding potential of this business."

"We're proud to support the business in reaching the significant milestone of profitability at scale," said Cristina Rohr, managing director, S2G Ventures. "This opens up avenues for further expansion through strategic M&A, positioning the company as a customer-focused agronomic data platform."

Sentera serves customers in more than 45 countries. The company most recently reported 40% year-over-year growth, with key growth drivers in its innovative data capture technology, advanced machine learning, digital phenotyping, and localized data model segments.

"We're experiencing exceptional growth by leveraging a comprehensive data capture, analytics, and modeling suite that allows our enterprise agriscience customers to bring new solutions to market faster, and with greater efficiency," said Brian Wenngatz, chief executive officer, Sentera. "Our data science ecosystem gives us unique tools and flexibility that our customers need to drive innovation through their product development roadmaps – whether it's developing the next-best biological, using precision data to transform product application, or unlocking precision weed chemistry with a solution that benefits everyone in the value chain."

Sentera's data science ecosystem features an advanced geospatial data platform powered by deep learning and agronomic machine learning that deliver comprehensive phenotyping and product performance insights. Insights scale from plant-level tracking and modeling to regional estimates of yield, nutrient uptake, and attributes of crop quality. The company integrates public and customer-proprietary data to deliver high-accuracy insights efficiently and quickly.

"Our platform catalyzes our customers' ability to transform pools of data into the insights that inform their most critical decisions," said Eric Taipale, chief technology officer and co-founder, Sentera. "We can deliver tailored – and therefore more accurate – tools more quickly and more cost-effectively because of the capabilities we've built. This forms the basis for strong partnerships that translate into meaningful competitive advantages for our customers."

"Part of our success comes from supporting our customers with augmentation of a more tenured product with Sentera digital technology, or what we like to refer to as a digital wrapper," continued Wenngatz. "Putting this technology in the hands of our customers has transformed how they are able to bring new products to market or differentiate those that face significant competitive pressure."

For Sentera, one of the most impactful use cases at the forefront of this digital technology focuses on optimizing weed management strategies, given challenges with herbicide resistance and changes to weed growth patterns. Leveraging its suite of products, from its ultra-high-resolution aerial sensor and georeferencing system to its data science ecosystem, Sentera's technology showcases a promising future for using remote sensing drone technology for identifying weed species in the field and quickly generating precision prescription maps to support variable-rate treatment applicators.

"Selective, targeted application, in this case for herbicide, serves as one example of how we use our technology. Paired with the expertise of industry leaders, we deliver solutions that solve the biggest issues at hand," continued Taipale. "This isn't limited to the weeds problem – it's how we as a company approach the industry's toughest challenges and focus on delivering technology that delivers proven value."

For more information about Sentera, visit https://www.sentera.com.

About Sentera

Sentera helps agronomic leaders maximize every season as the industry-leading provider of ag analytics. With its data science ecosystem, powered by machine learning, Sentera delivers more reliable and scalable plant-level measurements to maximize performance outcomes, which can be informed by aerial imagery captured by Sentera's drone technology solutions or services. Operating in more than 45 countries, Sentera works with hundreds of customers focused on research, product development, and in-field product validation. For more information, visit https://www.sentera.com.

Media Contact: Lora Osborn
[email protected] 
952.491.9835

SOURCE Sentera