Automation has aided businesses in growing efficiently and rapidly. These organizations have been able to thrive in ever-expanding markets thanks to advances in information technology. Although many unsuccessful attempts have been made by businesses over the years to digitize and automate the agriculture industry. Farmers’ acceptance of these disruptive technologies was initially lukewarm, but times are changing. And AgXeed is at the forefront of this transformation. The founding partners of the company wanted to leverage their extensive experience with large agriculture technology corporations as a springboard to launch their start up, very disruptive to the traditional tractor philosophy. Thus, in 2018, AgXeed was created. Anastasia Laska, the CCO, highlights that AgXeed—the all-in autonomy solutions provider, has revolutionized the customary farming techniques and methods. With the tagline “we provide autonomy in farming,” the tech firm is engaging with farmers, supporting them on the way to “accept the change.” The company set its foot in the agriculture industry in the year 2018, with the notion of transforming the lagging agriculture sector by bringing automation to farming. It can be described as a mission-driven team of individuals who are highly motivated to bring the future to farming and farmers. It provides smart, ready-to-use autonomy systems that include scalable and customizable hardware, cloud-based planning tools, and value-generating data models. AgXeed pushes the boundaries of what is possible by combining cutting-edge techniques and technologies from various industries and applying them to the agricultural sector. The company’s solutions serve not only as a replacement for conventional tractors and harvesting machines; they empower the farmer to approach their business and farm management in a completely different way.
In-depth of soil
AgXeed is well-known for making farming more environmentally friendly. The AgBots stay under the irreversible soil compaction threshold, eliminating further degradation of the soil in comparison with conventional, increasingly heavy machinery, leading to healthier crops and higher yields. Similarly, the company can contribute in a structural way to improving productivity and yields while minimizing its impact on the environment. “Not less important than ecology and productivity, we provide an economy: an economy of time, labor, energy, fertilizer, seeds, etc.,” asserts Anastasia. As a single unit or as part of a fleet, its AgBots can execute all agriculture tasks completely independently, safely, and efficiently due to robotic precision. By being autonomous, the AgBots will provide customers with ample time to focus on their key activities and add true added value to the food supply chain.
One cannot deny that the path of a farmer is littered with obstacles that have been overlooked by various governing bodies. With AgXeed, these farmers can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that farming can be passed down to the next generation as an innovative and profitable business. Its clients are independent farmers who face numerous challenges, including resource costs, labor availability, new societal demands, and supply chain issues. They are putting their trust in AgXeed products and are eager to put them to use. “This is the culmination of my five-year dream,” says one of the farmers who uses AgXeed tractors. The company is thriving in countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and others.
AgXeed received good level of support from the EU Horizon 2020 program, as well as Europees Fonds voor Regionale Ontwikkeling (NL) and regional government. Some room for improvement, says Anastasia, is in the quality of business expertise support which is available for start-ups, as well as official guidance on the data topics. Automation is not regulated in agriculture, and data governance is not defined, so AgXeed relies on its own resources for networking and experience sharing with complementary technology providers. In addition to conventional challenges, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a global outburst. Though the situation is improving, the pandemic has had an impact on a variety of businesses. It has increased the company’s customers’ human resource challenges while also shifting food demand to more local producers. Anastasia states that both factors are important to accelerating the acceptance of automation.
‘Data’ is the future
Currently, ‘data’ is the most valuable asset. Industries have recognized the significance of data analysis and storage for business advancement and have taken action to secure a position in the race to digital transformation. Data analytics can be used by a company to enhance decision-making, examine consumer patterns, monitor customer happiness, and identify potential for new services or products to address expanding market requirements. Organizations can receive real-time insights into marketing, production volume, sales, and financing by integrating information and technology to collect data across the firm. Even for AgXeed, data has been a cornerstone to increasing its value proposition. It provides the farmer with an integrated solution to manage and forecast their full business. Additionally, it collects dozens of data points in real-time to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of processes.
Aim Higher
Agriculture, one of the world’s oldest industries, is at a technological tipping point, points out Anatasia. In order to properly handle rising demand and various disruptive tendencies, the market will need to address the difficulties in implementing improved connections. This will necessitate a significant investment in infrastructure as well as a reorganization of existing roles.
Anatasia reckons that in order to scale effectively, the company requires to be peculiarly smart in choosing its distribution partners globally. She comprehends the significance of having partners and the criticality to enable ambitious growth. They can enhance the company’s brand value proposition and make it locally relevant. Thus, she believes that funneling down to the right distribution partners globally is vital to fulfilling the above-mentioned goals. In addition to that, the company will be focusing on continuous product innovation and production scaling.
