Skyx
Push a button and send drones to spray farmland
Skyx has developed an innovative technology for agricultural spraying that dramatically reduces the use of pesticides: planning and piloting a modular swarm of autonomous drones. Your investment opportunity is together with two VCs.
120% of funding target
By: Eylon Sorek
Successfully fundedAngel Investment
Investment type:
Company Stage:
Category:
Food & Agro
Highlights
Highlights
A modular and autonomous swarm of agriculture spraying drones
Skyx is an agricultural-robotics technology company enabling a modular swarm of autonomous drones for spraying. Our patent-pending technology "compiles" multiple layers of information about the terrain, crops, chemicals, and available fleet, and the outcome is an optimized mission planning and real-time auto-piloting for a fleet of spraying drones.
Simply put: "push a button and send drones to spray farmland".
Dramaticaly Reducing the Use of Pesticides
Skyx is fundamentally changing the field of crop protection with their swarm of spraying drones, which renders the spraying operation extremely precise, safe and cost-effective, and dramatically reduces the use of pesticides. SkyX's technology is revolutionizing the global spraying market, valued at tens of billions of dollars a year and based on chemical dispersal through manual through manual means, by drivers and pilots.
Strategic partnerships and commercial Ventures with leading international drone and agricultural equipment companies
Skyx has launched commercial operations in the international arena and has already signed a number of strategic agreements with major manufacturers in the field of drones, including SkyDrones in Brazil and Advanced Tactics in the US. The company is also in advanced contacts with growers, agricultural spraying service providers, large agriculture companies, technology manufacturers and government and academia officials in the US.
Israeli and International Government Grants, and Acceleration Prizes
The company has been receiving significant R&D funding from the Israel Innovations Authority's early stage program for two consecutive years, and has received a large EU grant under the prestigious Horizon2020 SME Instrument Phase-1 programs.
In addition, the company has participated in international accelerator programs and received a significant financial award.
Joining the Investment Alongside Two Large VCs and Under the Same Terms
The company received initial funding for R&D from Rimonim Agriculture VC, which supports and invests in the development of agro-technologies. Rimonim VC togtether with Titan Ventures recently invested in Skyx and your investment opportunity is to join under the same terms.
Worldwide Media Coverage Highlights Skyx Innovation and Potential
Skyx's innovation and potential has aroused significant interest and ongoing coverage by various international media outlets. The company has attended many events in the domain of drones and precision agriculture in Israel, the US, Europe, and APAC.
A Team of Leading Engineers and Entrepreneurs with an Impressive Track Record
The Skyx team comprises entrepreneurs with over 20 years experience in establishing and managing successful companies, deep technology development and global business development. Skyx boasts excellent and experienced hardware and software engineers with PhD degrees from leading Israeli universities. The company’s investors, board members and advisors bring a rich background of entrepreneurship and management in the agro-tech field. An example for the uniqueness and commitment of the team is becoming certified as drone pilots and agricultural sprayers during the development of the company.
Pitch
Pitch
The Idea
In recent years, we have been witnessing the Emergence of the Autonomous Revolution, which is expected to change the way we live our daily lives, from the cars we drive to how the food we consume is produced and supplied.
The automotive and aviation worlds are leading the revolution through the development of innovative driving and flying technologies, designed to enable fully autonomous traffic in the future. Other markets, including agriculture, want to join this revolution but face fundamentally different challenges, particularly in dealing with various obstacles in the field that challenge the planning and execution of the spraying mission is a precise and safe way.
The Need
In the agricultural world, crop damage due to pests and diseases is responsible for a substantial loss of about 10% to 16% of the world's crop yield, and about 12% of that in the United States. However, traditional spraying methods - manual spraying planes and tractors have significant cost, accuracy, availability, and safety drawbacks.
There are a number of agricultural spraying needs:
1. Reducing Pesticide Quantities (Price, Environment): With current methods, spraying is uniformly applied to the entire plot without regard to pest dispersal, disease, weeds and other surface conditions. Lack of selective spraying means larger quantities of pesticides, resulting in high costs and unnecessary damage to soil and the environment.
2. Reducing the cost of spraying (price): A considerable part of agricultural expenses is predetermined and not subject to control, for example, the price of water, electricity and labor. In contrast, when purchasing pesticides and spraying, the farmer encounters a market where there are a number of manufacturers and products, and is given the option of price bargaining. Therefore, the price sensitivity is critical and the value in reducing the cost is not only economic but also perceptive.
3. Precision in spraying (plant protection): The accuracy of dispersion / spray quality has tremendous significance when it comes to plant protection. A small area that is not properly covered will turn into a Jumping-off point for disease that can damage the entire field. Therefore, "weak points" in this context (mountains, bends, antennas, trees, wires, etc.) are critical to the farmer.
4. Protecting agricultural land (accuracy, environment): Significantly upgrading the spraying accuracy is also important in terms of protecting the environment. It leads to reduced dispersion of chemicals to areas near the treated field and the prevention of human error (or negligence), both of which contaminate clean soil, water sources or populated areas.
5. Possibility to spray at any time and on short notice (availability): The Skyx technology provides you with the option of spraying according to the pests’ active hours, the ability to respond immediately to detection of pests, and the flexibility to spray according to changing weather conditions.
6. Minimizing exposure to pesticides (safety): With current methods, operators are necessarily forced to work in a 'cloud' of chemicals, which is harmful to their health.
7. Spraying in hazardous areas (safety): The desire of spray pilots to be accurate in their work often leads them to take life-threatening risks (hitting electric cables is a common accident, which sometimes ends in loss of life). In addition, driving a tractor close to a ridge in a mountainous area is potentially dangerous.
8. Curiosity and recognizing the value of technological innovation: Agricultural spraying is a traditional operation that has only recently begun to incorporate a variety of technological developments. Implementing technology systems is intriguing and desired, especially among the "next generation" of farmers for whom technology is not a hostile word. In general, there is widespread agreement that only technological innovation can enable proper subsistence in agriculture.
The Solution
A ready-to-go agriculture spraying solution, based on a modular and autonomous swarm of drones.
The innovative solution comprises Skyx’s mission planning software and auto. piloting companion, as well as commercially available drones (not manufactured by Skyx). The solution enables a precise and uniform coverage of the entire plot, or “hotspot” spraying based on crop scouting.
The Skyx solution allows for the first time:
- Optimal farmland coverage algorithm - precise and selective spraying, including spots spraying;
- Significant reduction in pesticides - financial savings for farmers as well as protection of the environment;
- Safety - Minimum exposure to toxic materials, maximum safety for equipment, soil and people;
- Availability and flexibility - Spray at the touch of a button at any time and with short notice;
- Big data analysis and reporting
How Skyx works: the technology and its operation
The technology is realized as a software application on the ground station, from which the planning, piloting and control are done. In addition, there is a companion computer attached to each drone participating in the mission. Skyx companion allows for computing and communication regardless of external factors, such as internet connection.
The spraying solution provides the option for full, precise and uniform coverage of the entire field, plus a new option of selective spraying (dispersing the pesticides only in selected areas of the field where spraying is needed).
The process is the same for both full and selective spraying: during the planning stage, at the office or in the field, all the agricultural data and drone data are entered into the software. After the flight plan is viewed and the simulation approved, the mission is ready to go.
Full coverage
Partial coverage
When the spray service provider arrives at the base point in the field, the drones are spread out and a position is set up for replacing chemicals and / or batteries. At the touch of a button, the task begins, requiring only the supervision of the operator (no manual flying is needed). Most problems or deviations from the plan would be handled automatically and in real time by the system, but the operator has the option to make manual changes. At the end of the mission, the information is saved and the company can produce various reports for the farmer and the service provider, as well as for internal analysis.
SkyX in the Media
Team
Team
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Biography
Prior to founding the company, Dr. Turkel co-founded AutoInvest Capital, a software project and development of unique and sophisticated trading algorithms for automated financial asset trading, for nine years. At the same time, Itzik served as a teaching assistant in the communications systems engineering department at Ben-Gurion University. Prior to that, Itzik served as a team Software manager and was in charge of OEM with Oracle at Attunity, which develops enterprise products for access to various data sources, and for four years participated in the InfoCyclone foundation, which designed and implemented a database performance improvement system and served as a software development manager for the company. As the company‘s first employee, Itzik was involved in the design of the system, from the earliest stages to the final product. Itzik holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Systems Engineering from Ben-Gurion University, after which He completed his direct PhD course in the department and completed a postdoc in the life sciences department on RNA sequencing research.
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Biography
Hanoch Efraim received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva. His M.Sc. and Ph.D research focused on the mechanical structure and control algorithms of micro aerial vehicles and his industry background includes several years of UAV system development at Elbit systems.
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Biography
Previously a CTO in a technology start-up, developing codebase and infrastructure for a software product. Ron holds B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Tel-Aviv university, Israel.
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Biography
Daniel is highly entrepreneurial and has a passion for scaling businesses. He has a background in tech sales, and is passionate about all things agriculture. |
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Biography
Co-Founder & general managing partner at Rimonim Venture Capital, with combined expertise in business, finance, technology, and medicine, Michal co-founded and serves as chairman of Pro IV Medical, a start-up involved in reducing medical errors. Previous to that, Michal was a venture partner and EIR at Pitango, a leading Israeli VC, and clinical trial manager at the Innovative R&D division at Teva. Michal served as clinical development director at Medinol and was CEO of MES, Medical Electronic Systems. Michal was a director in Nutrinia, and board member at Atria, and USET. After receiving her MD and BSc from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Michal was a physician on staff at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel.
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Biography
Co-Founder & general managing partner at Rimonim Venture Capital with more than 20 years’ experience in the agro-technology and dairy industries and in high-tech start-ups. Served as CEO of NGT, the world’s first Arab-Israeli life science technology incubator, from its inception. CSO at SAE Afikim (Afimilk), the world leader in milk monitoring, and was a research engineer at IMAG-DLO, the Dutch research institute in Wageningen. In addition to SaliCrop, Sharon also co-founded Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies, a company developing eco-friendly root-zone temperature technology to increase crop production. Sharon holds a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University (Netherlands) and an MSc, BSc in Agricultural Engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
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Biography
Raised in Europe and the Middle East, Henry speaks French and Italian fluently. He teams with us on a broad range of strategic, operational, and financing issues to achieve growth and profitability. Henry has served on the Board of Directors of both private and public companies. He currently serves as Board Chairman at Signiant, and Board member at BlueConic and at Verne Global. Past private boards include Qumas (acquired), EZPrints (acquired), Sentillion (acquired), Active Endpoints (acquired), Evidian, Inframetrics (acquired), and Visible Measures. Past publicly traded company boards include Pegasystems, Computervision (acquired), and OneSource Information Services (acquired). Henry holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and BS and MS degrees from MIT in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
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Biography
M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from Kishiniev University, Moldova. Specialization: Agricultural mechanization and technology. More than 55 publications in professional magazines.
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