Globally, 70% of available fresh water is used in agriculture and 40% of that is wasted due to over irrigation and pollution. At the same time, cities need to create and maintain more urban green to cope with the effects of climate change.
Utrecht, the Netherlands, August 16th, 2022 – Dutch water technology company Sensoterra announces a successful funding round with Future Food Fund, and the Regional Development Agency (ROM) Utrecht Region, specifically supporting the expansion of their water management smart soil sensors for agriculture and horticulture, smart city management, and water governance.
Globally, 70% of available fresh water is used in agriculture and 40% of that is wasted due to over irrigation and pollution. Higher prices for water, fuel and fertilizers combined with worsening droughts and increasing demand for food, means water resources must be used more efficiently. At the same time, cities need to create and maintain more urban green, and good water governance is crucial to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Sensoterra Solution
Sensoterra enables its end-customers, farmers, advisors and (smart) cities, to save water, fuel and inputs, while at the same time realize higher crop yields and better-quality green.
To facilitate this, Sensoterra offers IoT based soil moisture measurements systems, based on its unique sensors. Customers are active in agriculture and horticulture, smart city management, and water governance. Today they manage over 12,000 active sensors in the ground globally, and this number is rapidly growing.
Sensoterra CCO & Co-CEO René Voogt: “When Sensoterra was established in 2015, it was developing one of the first IoT based soil moisture sensors on the market. Over the years, the sensors have been refined to ensure that they provide a rare combination of low cost, ease of installation, high accuracy, and no required maintenance.”
CTO & Co-CEO at Sensoterra, Ellery Rijkaart: “With the funding, we will be able to focus our efforts on scaling up sales efforts and product development activities to build even better solutions, saving more water and realizing higher yields.”
The company was acquired in 2021 by the current management team.
Future Food Fund for sustainable food systems
Managing Partner Jeroen Kimmels of Future Food Fund: “We have been following Sensoterra for years. With the entrance of the new managers and owners, the further development of the soil measurement systems and growing customer base, we feel now is the time to invest and accelerate growth.”
ROM Utrecht & Earth Valley
Jeffrey Williams, Sr. Investment Manager at the ROM Utrecht Region: “We are happy to support Sensoterra, a company that fits well within the Earth Valley cluster of the Utrecht region, in its mission to tackle the problem of water overuse, a main contributor to water scarcity.”
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About Future Food Fund
Future Food Fund is a Dutch seed capital fund, founded and funded by over 30 entrepreneurs. With backgrounds primarily in food & agriculture and technology, these entrepreneurs wish to actively contribute to the success of the fund, not only with money, but also with experience and network. Future Food Fund invests in North Western European, early stage companies that change the value chain of food & agriculture sector with innovative technology and/or disruptive business models. Learn more at www.futurefoodfund.com
About Regional Development Agency Utrecht
ROM Utrecht Region is a regional investor that increases access to capital for innovative companies in the Utrecht region. They invest in the major sectors that are important for tomorrow’s economy: digital, health, and sustainability. The investment in Sensoterra is made from the Participation Fund. The Participation Fund is financed by the Province of Utrecht, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK), the European Fund for Regional Development, Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, as well as the municipalities of Amersfoort, Hilversum, and Utrecht. Learn more at www.romutrechtregion.nl
About Sensoterra
Sensoterra develops low-cost, simple, and robust wireless soil moisture sensors, providing actionable insights that enable water management platforms and solutions. Our sensors are built to integrate into any platform with our unique ‘API first’ philosophy – offering freedom and flexibility for data integration. It is our mission to enable water management platforms and solutions worldwide. We help by ‘Making Sense of Water’. We produce simple, robust, and low-cost wireless soil moisture sensors that are easy to deploy and built to integrate. With proven success in the applications of smart city landscaping, environmental monitoring, and precision agriculture, the Sensoterra solution integrates seamlessly in existing water and land management platforms.
Learn more at www.sensoterra.com
Contact for more information, pictures and/or interview requests:
Jessica Nuboer
Marketing & Communications
Sensoterra
Email: [email protected]
