Decisive Farming eyes expansion after securing $6m

Alberta-based Decisive Farming Corporation has secured $6 million in Series A financing led by venture capital fund manager McRock Capital Corporation, which chief executive Remi Schmaltz told Agri Investor will help solidify his firm’s relationships in Canada and help break into the US market.

While the $6 million investment is its first VC financing, Decisive Farming previously secured roughly $4 million from angel investors and institutional investors, bringing the total to $10 million, Schmaltz said.

The maker of precision agriculture software and related applications plans to build out the agreement it struck in August to provide its services through a network of retail co-operatives in western Canada which make up Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL); and to finalise strategic agreements that are currently moving forward in the US.

Export Development Canada, a previous investor in the firm, also participated in the McRock-led financing, which took the form of a typical preferred stock equity purchase. EDC and Accelerate Fund, another early investor in Decisive Farming, converted existing notes as part of the Series A.   

“It’s about finding alignment,” Schmaltz said of the decision to team up with McRock. “We had lots of conversations with different investors, but McRock came with a very logical approach that was in line with our business philosophy. We want to grow the business but continue to provide value and customer service in order to retain clients.”

Decisive Farming, founded in 2011, provides crop farmers and agriculture service providers with precision agriculture support through mobile and cloud-based software tools.

The company’s flagship Optimize RX product uses soil analysis and GIS mapping to help farmers efficiently seed and fertilise their crops. The cloud-based software app My Farm Manager connects key people, service providers and data to manage and optimise the entire farming operation.

As part of the financing, Whitney Rockley, co-founder and managing director of McRock, will join Decisive Farming’s board of directors.

“Over the past five years, we have seen overwhelming evidence that the agricultural sector is leading the charge in the adoption of [services related to the industrial internet of things],” he said in a statement, using a term that refers to networks encompassing the use of standard Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. 

“The crop farmers’ positive response to Decisive Farming’s solutions, combined with the company’s impressive revenue growth and efficient use of equity, makes this an exciting addition to our investment portfolio.”