Verdi’s smart valve clusters are referred to as “swarms” by Verdi, which debuted today at TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield. The word refers to the type of high-density implementation that the corporation plans to execute in farms across North America. The goal of its system, which is retrofitted with existing irrigation equipment, is to provide farmers with more control over the irrigation they send to their crops.
The technology uses third-party data from satellites (and, in the future, drones) to figure out which areas of a crop aren’t getting enough water. The method divides the crops into separate zones and uses machine learning to ensure that the right amount of water is delivered where it is needed.
“There are a lot of variances in the way that plants develop, and that’s due to variations in soil and climate, which can happen across just a few meters in a field,” says Arthur Chen, co-founder, and CEO of the company.
“Their current infrastructure only allows them to execute these one-size-fits-all treatments, treating every plant the same way, despite the fact that each has its own set of growing requirements. What we’re aiming for is to provide farmers the flexibility to tailor water and fertilizer applications for specific groupings of plants, or even single plants in a field.”
The startup began as a spinoff from the University of British Columbia in 2019. Because to COVID-19-related travel restrictions, most of their original technology has been rolled out locally in B.C.
Because deploying the system necessitates the presence of a representative, Verdi has conducted most of its trials in its own province since launching in early January. There are, however, systems in California and Washington State that are being tested.
According to the company’s claims, the technology can save up to 80% on watering expenditures while providing up to 10 times more precision than more traditional approaches. The company’s main pitch to farmers is more precise irrigation, but when presenting to potential investors, who are almost likely searching for additional green enterprises to add to their portfolio, the company would do well to focus on the potential water savings. California, which is suffering from a severe drought, would do well to consider more water-saving options.
Startup Haven, Rarebreed Ventures, and Alchemist Accelerator have each contributed $1.08 million in pre-seed capital to the team of four full-time employees.
