Ukko Agro Raises $5.1 million in Series Seed Investment, led by Emmertech
Toronto — December 16, 2021 — Ukko Agro Ltd., a Toronto-based technology company that provides plug and play predictive analytics for the agriculture sector, today announced the closing of its $5.1 million Series Seed investment round. The financing was led by Emmertech, with participation by Ag Capital Canada, TELUS Ventures, Whitecap Venture Partners, and PIC Investment Group.
Ukko Agro was founded in 2017 by Ketan Kaushish and Avi Bhargava, with the vision of instilling predictability and transparency logistics across the agriculture value chain to help grow successful crops. Since then, Ukko has become a strong software and predictive analytics company and has developed the capability to rapidly build predictive models, in house, for disease, insect, crop growth and irrigation forecasting.
“Ukko’s mission is to bring predictability to decision-making in agriculture. Our goal is to understand our customers’ problems and build simple solutions which fit seamlessly into their daily routines,” explained co-founder Ketan Kaushish.
Ukko helps farmers increase their precision in the application of pesticides, water, and nutrients, thereby enabling higher profitability. Leveraging the power of IoT (Internet of Things), agricultural science, and machine learning to provide information in real time, Ukko Agro is creating plug and play solutions which analyze data streams to generate intelligence that can be plugged into existing FMS (Farm Management System) platforms.
Enhancing the sustainability of farm operations is a key mission of Ukko Agro. The company’s analytics help to provide greater predictive capability in managing agronomy, supporting the transition from reactive to proactive decision-making to optimize time and resources.
“Ukko is using predictive analytics to draw macro-level analytics to help improve customer engagement and demand-forecasting for retailers and enterprises,” added Kaushish. Co-founder Avi Bhargava summed up the culture of Ukko Agro: “We learn with humility and apply this learning until our customers are satisfied. This approach has enabled Ukko’s growth. The latest round of funding will allow Ukko to solve more complex challenges in sustainably growing successful crops on a much larger scale.”
“Ketan and Avi bring the perfect blend of Ag industry and machine learning experience to make Ukko a winner,” said Kyle Scott, managing director with Emmertech. “Ukko is solving a real problem and going to market in a unique way which we think benefits everyone in the value chain. We couldn’t be more excited to back this team and company along with our outstanding co-investors.”
Jay Bradshaw of Ag Capital Canada added, “The development and practical use of predictive analytics to support decision-making in agriculture is a gap in the digital ag market. Ukko Agro has demonstrated they have this capability through its F.A.I.M. (Field Adaptive Integrated Models). With its predictive analytics capabilities and customer-focused approach, Ukko Agro is poised for growth while contributing to sustainable agricultural production.”
About Ukko Agro
Ukko Agro is a plug and play predictive analytics platform founded in Toronto, in 2018. Ukko’s predictive analytics tool, ForeSite, helps farmers make better proactive decisions on application of crop inputs and leverages on these decisions to drive proactive customer engagement and better demand forecasting for ag-input retailers and enterprises. The company is actively recruiting for multiple roles within their team. For more information, visit: https://ukko.ag/.
About Emmertech
Emmertech is an agtech fund built from the industry outwards, with an investor base that includes some of Canada's most innovative farmers, agribusiness owners, agriculture-centred insurers & financial institutions, and Canada’s biggest agricultural province through Innovation Saskatchewan. Emmertech is fund-managed by Conexus Venture Capital, built with the vision that Canada can become a global leader in agriculture innovation if our founders are given proper access to early stage venture capital. https://emmertech.ca/
About Ag Capital
Canada Ag Capital Canada (ACC) is a private equity fund which invests in Canadian ag and food innovation and small business growth. ACC aims to discover, develop and nurture Canadian agricultural businesses through capital investment, business-management mentorship and entrepreneurial expertise. For more information, visit: http://www.agcapitalcanada.com.
About TELUS Ventures
As the strategic investment arm of TELUS Corporation (TSX: T, NYSE: TU), TELUS Ventures is one of Canada's most active corporate venture capital funds. TELUS Ventures invests globally in companies from Seed to Pre-IPO with a focus on innovative technologies such as AgTech, HealthTech, Connected Consumer, IoT, AI, and Security to actively drive new solutions across the TELUS ecosystem. Led by a team of experienced operators, investors, and executives, the TELUS Ventures team is passionate about creating positive social impact through financial tools and has invested in more than 90 companies since inception.For more information please visit: ventures.telus.com. About PIC Group PIC Investment Group is a family office, based in Saskatoon, with operating companies in several businesses, including: chemical production, packaging & distribution; transportation; real estate; aviation; insurance; propane and tourism. PIC also has many minority equity positions in businesses complimentary to our operating companies or in the agriculture or health industries. For more information, visit: www.picgroup.ca.
Media Contacts
Ukko Agro Contact:
Ketan Kaushish
437.993.5848
Emmertech Contact:
Laura McKnight
306.751.8201