AgriTech: ECBF supports € 8.5 million Series C for Weenat

Luxem­bourg — Toge­ther with the Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund (ECBF), the French agri­cul­tu­ral tech­no­logy company Weenat has successfully closed a Series C finan­cing round tota­ling EUR 8.5 million. Other inves­tors in this round are Pymwy­mic, LIBERSET, and IDIA Capi­tal Inves­tis­se­ment. The funding will enable Weenat to expand its inno­va­tions across Europe and streng­then the agri­cul­tu­ral community’s resi­li­ence to climate change through the use of cutting-edge technology.

Expan­sion and impact on farmers across Europe

Since its foun­da­tion in 2014, Weenat has estab­lished itself as a tech­no­lo­gi­cal market leader and pionee­red the first wire­less weather station connec­ted to a mobile appli­ca­tion. Since then, the company has deve­lo­ped real exper­tise in the manu­fac­ture of relia­ble sensors and culti­va­ted in-house know­ledge in the fields of engi­nee­ring, machine lear­ning, agro­nomy and metrology.

With a decade of expe­ri­ence, Weenat is now profi­ta­ble in its core opera­tion and has more than 25,000 sensors deployed across Europe. The network is supported by over 200 local part­ners, inclu­ding leading coope­ra­ti­ves, retail­ers and food indus­tries in France, Spain and Germany. Weenat not only coll­ects exten­sive data­sets of spatial and cali­bra­ted weather and soil water data, but also provi­des solu­ti­ons for the food and agri­cul­ture indus­try to promote climate resi­li­ent prac­ti­ces. This unique blend of capa­bi­li­ties posi­ti­ons Weenat for robust expan­sion across Europe and beyond.

” As a leading player in weather data and water manage­ment, Weenat’s goal is to deploy its inno­va­tions across Europe and provide farmers with effec­tive and user-friendly solu­ti­ons, explains ” Jérôme Le Roy. ” In 2023, our 10,000 soil sensors led to the conser­va­tion of 32 million cubic meters of water. The poten­tial impact of scaling our solu­ti­ons across all areas of Europe is truly amazing! “.

Inno­va­tions to combat water scar­city in agriculture

Climate change is an unde­niable reality that will make water scar­city and manage­ment a major envi­ron­men­tal chall­enge for deca­des to come. This situa­tion has a profound impact on farmers, as agri­cul­ture accounts for 70 percent of the world’s freshwa­ter with­dra­wals, and more than half of this water is used inef­fi­ci­ently due to a lack of suita­ble tools.

Weenat is commit­ted to helping farmers over­come the chal­lenges of water scar­city, with inno­va­tion at the heart of its stra­tegy. Through the successful acqui­si­tion of Weather Measu­res, a data-driven agtech start-up, in 2021, the company streng­the­ned its R&D&D capa­bi­li­ties and remains commit­ted to provi­ding cutting-edge tech­no­lo­gies to the farming commu­nity, whether through inter­nal deve­lo­p­ment or exter­nal acquisitions.

Under­stan­ding soil dyna­mics remains the biggest chall­enge for irri­ga­tion equip­ment. For this reason, Weenat has laun­ched an ambi­tious R&D program aimed at real-time moni­to­ring of soil water content throug­hout the root zone depth in all plots in Europe. Laun­ched in 2023, this program uses data from Weenat’s exten­sive network of ground sensors, the largest in Europe, along­side satel­lite imaging and arti­fi­cial intelligence.

The company used the combi­ned exper­tise of its data scien­tists, agro­no­mists and meteo­ro­lo­gists and has alre­ady achie­ved promi­sing scien­ti­fic results. It will now acce­le­rate its inno­va­tion path to provide the entire farming commu­nity with key data for the coming years.

” With climate change and water scar­city bearing down on us, Weenat’s track record of profi­ta­ble growth stands out in the fast-growing precis­ion irri­ga­tion market. A world-class foun­ding team and a high level of scien­ti­fic excel­lence have earned them the trust of growers and a leading posi­tion in France. We are very confi­dent that Weenats can make its mark on the wider market and are exci­ted about its poten­tial for excep­tio­nal impact! ” concludes Stéphane Rous­sel, Part­ner of the Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund (ECBF).

About Weenat

Weenat provi­des the agri­cul­tu­ral commu­nity with the agro-meteo­ro­­lo­­gi­­cal data they need to moni­tor the clima­tic and agro­no­mic condi­ti­ons of their plots in real time, from sowing to harvest. Thanks to Weenat, farmers and the agri­cul­tu­ral indus­try have accu­rate infor­ma­tion to anti­ci­pate climate hazards and opti­mize their agri­cul­tu­ral manage­ment. Foun­ded in 2014 by Jérôme Le Roy, the French company AgTech curr­ently has 60 employees, more than 200 part­ners and agri­cul­tu­ral distri­bu­tors ( coope­ra­ti­ves, retail­ers, rese­arch insti­tu­tes and agri­cul­tu­ral compa­nies ), more than 25,000 users, 25,000 sensors instal­led and is deve­lo­ping its offer in 8 Euro­pean count­ries ( France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Nether­lands, Luxem­bourg, Switz­er­land ). www.weenat.com

About the inves­tors in Weenat’s Series C finan­cing round:

Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund (ECBF)

The Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund ( ECBF ) is a private venture capi­tal fund dedi­ca­ted exclu­si­vely to the bioe­co­nomy and the circu­lar economy. Laun­ched by the Euro­pean Commis­sion, it invests in visio­nary Euro­pean entre­pre­neurs who are driving the tran­si­tion from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. The ECBF aims to cata­lyze the tran­si­tion to a sustainable future by inves­t­ing in later-stage compa­nies with high inno­va­tion poten­tial, favorable returns and sustainable impact. The ECBF was foun­ded in 2020 and mana­ges a total of € 300 million. It focu­ses on deploy­ing capi­tal in attrac­tive and impactful compa­nies based in the EU-27 or 16 HORIZON 2020 count­ries. The Luxe­m­­bourg-based fund is advi­sed by Hauck & Aufhäu­ser Funds Services S.A. as Alter­na­tive Invest­ment Fund Mana­ger (AIFM) and by the expe­ri­en­ced invest­ment team of EZBF Manage­ment GmbH based in Germany. www.ecbf.vc

Pymwy­mic

Pymwy­mic has been at the fore­front of the tran­si­tion to inves­t­ing with care for people and the planet since 1994. Supported by 200 indi­vi­du­als, fami­lies, entre­pre­neurs and angel inves­tors and toge­ther with insti­tu­tio­nal inves­tors, we have laun­ched two impact funds focu­sed on sustainable deve­lo­p­ment goals. Pymwymic’s Healthy Ecosys­tems Impact Fund I (closed in 2021) has nine port­fo­lio compa­nies (two of which are exiting) that are deve­lo­ping solu­ti­ons to preserve and restore our ecosys­tems. We are curr­ently inves­t­ing through the Healthy Food Systems Impact Fund II, support­ing the trans­for­ma­tion of entre­pre­neurs who are trans­forming our food system from farm to fork.

LIBERSET

LIBERSET is a trans­at­lan­tic invest­ment firm with offices in the US and Europe that supports the growth of inno­va­tive compa­nies that promote indus­trial tran­si­tion and decar­bo­niza­tion. Their mission is to invest in compa­nies that deve­lop breakth­rough solu­ti­ons that address global indus­trial inef­fi­ci­en­cies and solve major pain points. The inves­tor commu­nity consists of family groups, family offices, expe­ri­en­ced CEOs and entre­pre­neurs active in the fields of agri­cul­ture, food, cosme­tics, energy, mobi­lity, buil­ding manage­ment and cons­truc­tion. LIBERSET is commit­ted to support­ing the trans­at­lan­tic growth of its port­fo­lio compa­nies and helping them to build sustainable global value creation.

IDIA Capi­tal Investissement

IDIA Capi­tal Inves­tis­se­ment brings toge­ther the proprie­tary invest­ment acti­vi­ties of the Crédit Agri­cole Group, which focus on mino­rity invest­ments to support mid-caps and SMEs across all busi­ness sectors. It has reco­gni­zed exper­tise in the areas of food, wine and energy tran­si­tion. IDIA Capi­tal Inves­tis­se­ment also mana­ges the Crédit Agri­cole Group’s land and forestry groups and moni­tors Crédit Agri­cole S.A.’s invest­ments in certain funds. The total funds mana­ged by IDIA Capi­tal Inves­tis­se­ment (via invest­ment vehic­les such as CARD, CA Grands Crus, Grands Crus Inves­tis­se­ments, CA Tran­si­ti­ons, LCL Crois­sance, Ambi­tion Agri Agro Inves­tis­se­ment, etc.) amount to € 2.2 billion. The company is aiming to invest between € 1 million and € 50 million. IDIA Capi­tal Inves­tis­se­ment is a port­fo­lio manage­ment company autho­ri­zed by the AMF (French Finan­cial Markets Autho­rity) under no. GP-15000010.