Messium, a UK AgriTech innovator utilizing hyperspectral satellites and AI-driven crop progress fashions to sort out the problem of nitrogen effectivity in farming, has secured a €3.8 million Seed funding.

The spherical was co-led by the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital) – with funding drawn from UKI2S’s ‘House’ portfolio (backed by the UK House Company) and Enlargement Aerospace Ventures. Mudcake, Laconia, GRDC GrainInnovate, Clear Present Capital, Moonstone Enterprise Capital and follow-on investor SuperSeed additionally participated within the spherical.

George Marangos-Gilks, CEO and Co-founder of Messium, commented on the increase: “Feeding the world sustainably is without doubt one of the defining challenges of our time. At present, greater than half of all farmland is both over- or under-fertilised – an issue that wastes billions, drives emissions, and holds again world meals safety.

“At Messium, we imagine the reply lies in harnessing one of the best of satellite tv for pc know-how and AI to ship field-specific suggestions at huge scale – week in, week out, for each farmer on the planet.

“This funding is not only a win for Messium-  it’s a step change for world agriculture. Our ambition is daring: to eradicate fertiliser guesswork worldwide, increase yields, reduce waste, and assist safe the way forward for meals.”

Based in 2023, Messium is pioneering weekly, field-level nitrogen administration utilizing hyperspectral satellite tv for pc knowledge, crop progress fashions, and proprietary AI analytics.

Messium companions with main farmers, researchers, and companies to ship actionable nitrogen insights that maximise yield, cut back enter prices, and allow actually sustainable agriculture.

Messium’s platform combines satellite tv for pc imaging and AI to ship sensible, field-ready insights for farmers. Utilizing hyperspectral satellites that seize detailed pictures of crops throughout a whole bunch of wavelengths, Messium’s system “sees” precisely how a lot nitrogen is current in every a part of a discipline.

Superior AI fashions then analyse this satellite tv for pc knowledge alongside climate, soil, and farm administration info, constructing a real-time image of crop well being and nutrient wants.

Each week, farmers obtain tailor-made suggestions on when and the place to use fertiliser – maximising yield, minimising waste, and supporting extra sustainable, worthwhile farming.

For farmers, this might means clearer decision-making, much less guesswork, and higher outcomes – proper the place it issues most: within the discipline.

Vishal Soomaney Vijaykumar, CTO, Co-founder, added: “Messium’s journey to turning into the UK champions in hyperspectral agriculture wouldn’t have been potential with out the assist of ESA BIC & the UK House Company’s GEO Accelerator.

“These programmes supported us from day one, serving to us mix state-of-the-art analysis in hyperspectral distant sensing, machine studying and crop progress modelling to construct one thing radically new – turning an bold concept right into a business enterprise with real-world influence. Now we’re able to take this innovation world, serving to farmers increase earnings, reduce emissions and hold soils wholesome for future generations.”

This new capital will speed up Messium’s business rollout within the UK, Europe, and Australia, increase its community of analysis and farming companions, and scale up the corporate’s knowledge and analytics infrastructure.

Shruti Iyengar, House Funding Lead, UKI2S (managed by Future Planet Capital), added: “Messium represents a leap ahead for world agriculture, harnessing hyperspectral satellite tv for pc imaging, cutting-edge crop science, and progressive analytics multi function providing to handle one of many world’s most pressing useful resource challenges. The influence is important – from lowering agri-input use and related water air pollution, to growing yield per hectare for a few of the most generally consumed crops.

“Messium is a stellar instance of utilizing house knowledge to create a considerably optimistic influence on folks and the planet. As demand for sustainable meals manufacturing intensifies, scalable, data-driven options like Messium’s are important for constructing resilience throughout the agri-food system. We’re proud to again an organization with the imaginative and prescient and functionality to make a long-lasting distinction on a worldwide scale.”

Messium’s 2024 trials throughout Europe and Australia, utilizing greater than 13,000 lab-validated crop samples, reportedly discovered that over 50% of fields had been incorrectly fertilised – resulting in wasted enter prices and pointless emissions. Messium’s know-how permits a data-driven method to sort out these inefficiencies, supporting business farmers in addition to broader meals safety and net-zero goals.

Messium’s system is already delivering outcomes for over 75 farms throughout the UK and Europe this yr, with extra pilots underway in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the US.

Dr Craig Brown, Funding Director at UK House Company stated: “Messium’s success demonstrates the transformative potential of house know-how in addressing vital world challenges. By integrating superior hyperspectral satellite tv for pc knowledge with synthetic intelligence, they’re enabling farmers to enhance yields, cut back enter waste, and minimise environmental influence.

“The UK House Company is proud to assist Messium through the UKI2S house fund.  Improvements like this not solely strengthen the UK’s house sector, but in addition contribute to world meals safety and local weather resilience.

“Messium is a compelling case research in how our assist, from start-up to scale-up, has helped unlock personal funding and speed up progress.”

The newest funding permits Messium to scale its staff, know-how, and business influence, additional growing its platform to handle different nutrient and crop well being challenges. Constructing on this momentum, the corporate is now making ready for a Sequence A spherical to speed up worldwide growth and deepen its know-how management.

Ulf Palmnäs, Enterprise Companion, Enlargement Aerospace Ventures added: “Messium is on the forefront of precision agriculture – bringing collectively satellite tv for pc knowledge and superior AI to sort out one in all farming’s greatest challenges.

“We backed them due to the energy of their staff, the clear worth they’re already delivering to farmers, and the large optimistic influence this know-how can have on the world.”