Cromai - an artificial intelligence agtech startup, whose flagship is a system that detects weeds in the field, announces the completion of a R$ 15 million (aprox $2.9M) Series A funding round. The financing saw the participation of Baraúna Venture Capital and individual investors Henrique and Luiza Del Papa, from Agropecuária Sucuri, rural producers in the region of Morro Agudo (SP).
This investment is the second fundraise in less than two years. In May 2021, Cromai raised BRL 5 million in a seed capital round with minority stakeholder Stoller, recently acquired by Corteva. "Since Stoller now belongs to Corteva, indirectly, Corteva has this minority stake in Cromai. But, in practice, I emphasize that this participation remains in the name of Stoller", explains Castro, Cromai's CEO. The funds will be allocated to Cromai's expansion in the sugar-energy market and the start-up of operations in grains and fibers. The deal relied on financial advice from LKC Capital and legal assistance from Silveiro Advogados.
With successive financial and smart-money contributions, Cromai was able to grow four times in 2022 compared to 2021 in terms of its revenue. In area, it went from 60 thousand hectares monitored in 2021 to 300 thousand hectares in 2022, considering sugarcane crops.
Today, the startup serves more than 15 of a total of 30 of the largest sugarcane producers in the country. In a universe of 400 sugarcane mills in Brazil, it intends to conquer a portfolio of approximately 130 mills by 2024. soybeans in Brazil", says Castro.
Since 2017, Cromai has had the sugarcane segment as its main market, serving mills and input distributors with a system that detects the presence of weeds in the crop. Now, the weed detection solution will also serve soy producers.
Opportunity For New Investments
According to Baraúna VC, the expectation is that Cromai will consolidate itself as one of the main technology companies in agribusiness, becoming a reference in management recommendations and information.
"Cromai has a very different technology team focused on artificial intelligence, which manages to deliver solutions with real savings for farmers. Based on that, we can see that it will be able to create other solutions that will bring efficiency to 4.0 agricultural management", says Paulo Ciampolini, from Baraúna Venture Capital.
Henrique Del Papa, Cromai's new investor partner and rural producer in the State of São Paulo, tells of the potential he saw in the startup. "Technology has always been present in our core business, the production and supply of soy and sugarcane. When Cromai's project was presented to me for a field day, I saw great growth potential in agtech, not only for solving a real pain for producers, but also as an impact delivery company, "he says.
In addition to being an investor and user, with the know-how to evaluate technology in action in the field, Del Papa will contribute with his expertise to lead agtech's business development. Along with the announcement of the contribution, Cromai also informed that he will assume the position of director of this area.
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