ITK, a Montpellier-based company specializing in AI applied to agriculture, announced this week that ithas raised €10 million in funding fromEDF Pulse Holding, Starquest Capital, as well as BNP and Banque Dupuy de Parseval (Groupe Banque Populaire du Sud) .Headed by Aline Bsaibes since 2019, ITK designs and develops agronomic modelling and artificial intelligence solutions for more efficient agriculture that emits less greenhouse gas. This financing will enable it to accelerate the development of new services for sustainable agriculture, for its insurance offer and its development abroad.
ITK was founded in 2003 in Montpellier by Eric Jallas, Director of Research at the Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for the Sustainable Development of Tropical and Mediterranean Regions (CIRAD). It is based at three sites: Montpellier (Occitania), Rennes (Brittany), San Francisco (California, USA), the company specializes in agro-technology and has around 100 employees. ITK develops agricultural data analysis services and solutions for the agri-food value chain, the smart city and renewable energy. The company’s activity is mainly based on research and development.
This €10 million round of financing will enable it to accelerate the development of decision-making tools for farmers, allowing them to know at any time the state of their crops, their potential yield and their needs in terms of water, fertilisers and protective products. The company also aims to ensure its global positioning.
Aline Bsaibes is particularly pleased with the support of EDF, which is investing in an agricultural structure for the first time and wants to strengthen its position on the global market. She states:
“Thanks to this new round of financing, the ITK group can accelerate its commercial development and innovate in decarbonation services as well as in the prevention of agroclimatic risks. We need to be backed by a major committed group like EDF to scale up.”
ITK and smart farming
Farmers are facing new problems: environmental degradation, soil degradation, climate change… ITK’s mission is to support farmers and their advisors in this transition to agro-ecology thanks to the modelling of living organisms (plants and animals). The modelling of biological systems enables ITK researchers to carry out the simulations necessary for the forecasts that will enable optimal productivity.
Having very quickly used this modeling, ITK has become one of the leaders in the world market of connected agriculture, both for land cultivation (more than one million hectares) and for livestock (more than 350,000 connected cows).
Using agronomic modeling and AI to decarbonize agriculture.
To measure the rate of methane emissions from cows, farmers can equip them with the “Farm Life” connected collar, marketed by Medria Solutions, a partner of the NEW MEDRIA company, managed by ITK. This collar is equipped with sensors based on deep learning. Aline Bsaibes states:
“This collar measures the cow’s movements, to interpret her well-being: does she need to be inseminated? Is she limping? Alerts are sent to the farmer, who can balance his feed rations and choose the right additives.
With Seenergi, which is part of the Medria consortium like ITK, the latter has set up a demonstrator to reduce methane emissions.
In addition, ITK is conducting a study on carbon storage in the field of viticulture in Occitania, with EDF and the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture. ITK also offers an insurance product, Heat Stress Protect, dedicated to the prevention of climate risks for agriculture and states:
“We combine Météo-France forecasts with agronomic models, to assess the impact of critical episodes, such as frost, on yield.”
Guillaume Lesueur, Director of EDF Pulse Ventures, in charge of investments within the EDF Group’s Innovation and Pulse Programs Department.
“Agriculture is the second most CO2 emitting sector in the world. In the face of the climate emergency, it is absolutely necessary to focus our efforts on deploying solutions like those of ITK to reduce the carbon footprint of activities in this sector. ITK’s approach and expertise make it a major player in the decarbonization of agriculture, which we are delighted to count among our partners.”
Arnaud Delattre, President of Starquest Capital, adds:
“We have been supporting ITK for 10 years, and we are delighted to continue to do so, particularly alongside EDF, because we are convinced that the company’s unique expertise is part of the answer to the climate challenge we face. We are also convinced that the combination of Eric Jallas, ITK’s founder and scientific inspiration, and Aline Bsaibes, who masterfully leads the business development of ITK solutions, is a powerful guarantee of success.”
Translated from La société montpelliéraine ITK lève 10 millions d’euros pour une agriculture connectée
