The Brazilian agritech Agrosmart announced this week the acquisition of 100% of BoosterAgro, an Argentine startup that owns the main weather app focused on agribusiness in Latin America. It is the first time that an Argentine agritech has been sold to a foreign company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Agrosmart CEO and co-founder Mariana Vasconcelos told LABS that the acquisition has two objectives: to expand operations in Latin America and to increase the user base.
“We have been expanding projects for a while now and we understand that we needed a team in the ground, that speaks Spanish natively and that has a favorable service hub for our growth. A team in Argentina, which is very relevant in the Latin American agribusiness industry, brings that to us “, she says.
Also, BoosterAgro is the segment’s platform with the largest user base, according to Vasconcelos. With the deal, the two companies will serve more than 48 million hectares in 9 countries and join forces to accelerate growth in the region, developing products for the agribusiness chain.
“With BoosterAgro we consolidate ourselves as the largest on several fronts and we have a more complete offer. We have algorithms and sensors, and access to the market is crucial for our growth”, she explains.
In Brazil, Agrosmart currently works with around 800,000 hectares and 4,000 rural producers.
How Agrosmart works and what to expect after the acquisition
Founded in 2014, Brazilian agritech has been consolidating itself as a leading platform in digital agriculture for emerging countries. It offers field monitoring with sensors in the field, images and data science to generate agronomic insights, such as when and how much to irrigate a plantation according to weather and soil conditions.
In addition to the data collected by Agrosmart, the partner farmer can also add data in the app regarding aspects that only he knows about his plantation, generating specific alerts. Other companies that also provide services to the producer can exchange data, generating integrated intelligence.
Agritech has customers from all over the agribusiness chain: small producers, seed companies, pesticide companies, also those focused on research and development, as well as agribusinesses that need to monitor entire supply networks.
Agrosmart charges from BRL 99 per month for the service package. The platform also operates in the financial sector, providing data that helps banks and insurers to measure risks. Customers include Coca-Cola, Cargill, Bradesco, Nestlé, among others.
Agrosmart promises a seven-day weather forecast within a 7-kilometer radius. With this, the farmer can plan irrigation and assess if whether climatic conditions will be favorable for the use of inputs or machinery, or whether it is a good time to start planting. A similar model helps to predict the risk of fires and diseases typical of crops.
Agrosmart already had a team in Paraguay, but Argentina will be the country of debut for the company’s first office outside Brazil. In Latin America, agritech also does business in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico and Bolivia. It also has operations in the United States and Israel.
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Agrosmart does not reveal its revenue but claims to have grown by 90% in 2020.Since its founding, the startup has raised $ 8.8 million in Seed and Series A rounds.
“We keep the goal of doubling [in revenue until the end of 2021] and even going further with this acquisition. There will be a period of integration and product development, but I certainly think we will accelerate this growth.”
The BoosterAgro’s “hermanos”
BoosterAgro app was launched in 2016 by Marcos Alvarado and Sebastián Galdeano and has already exceeded 250,000 downloads and more than 100,000 active users in five countries.
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The platform brings together digital tools, agroclimatic content and weather forecasts from several data providers and will now also include Agrosmart’s high-resolution forecast.
BoosterAgro’s founders will hold positions at Agrosmart. “This is very important in our market, maintaining talents that have a common vision and commitment to transforming agriculture. Their team is very committed to building a product that impacts the daily life of the producer”, says Vasconcelos.
