Arable, an agricultural intelligence company, announced Monday it raised $40 million in Series C funding led by Tom Steyer and Katie Hall’s climate investment platform Galvanize Climate Solutions.
San Francisco-based Arable creates field assessment tools for farmers to get weather and plant insights to drive climate resilience. The fresh funding will be used to advance product development with a focus on new service delivery and global market expansion.
As climate change impacts agriculture through volatile weather that puts crops and profits at risk, having accurate field data is incredibly important. Equally important, is optimizing water usage during a time when droughts and wildfires are at an all-time high.
Arable’s field sensors are easy to set up and provide an accurate view of a crop’s entire ecosystem in order to optimize water usage. The sensors can detect and report changes in climate, soil moisture and irrigation amounts, all viewable from a mobile device within five minutes of setup. Arable’s products also help farmers protect their crops from pests and diseases.
“From talking to farmers and agricultural producers worldwide, it really feels like we are at a tipping point. There is an urgent need to improve the productivity and sustainability of farming while at the same time making these systems more resilient to a changing climate and landscape,” Arable CEO Jim Ethington said in a statement. “Arable is focused on building the tools for the next generation of agriculture that can unlock productivity through data and digital tools while helping secure farmers’ livelihoods and a stable food supply.”
As part of the investment, Galvanize Climate Solutions partner Saloni Multani has joined Arable’s board.
“It’s a global imperative that we find new solutions to reduce emissions, increase agricultural resilience and create a more sustainable food supply,” Multani said in a statement. “Arable is at the cutting-edge of farm innovation with technologies that combine the next frontier of connected sensors and machine learning. We are excited to lead this investment round because the company’s technology aligns with our mission to scale vital and urgent climate solutions.”
Arable isn’t the only San Francisco agtech company focused on water sustainability to raise funds lately. Last week, Lumo raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding for its wireless, cloud-managed water valve network.
