Greeneye Technology, a tech company based in Tel Aviv and Montreal, is raising $9.5 million (US $7 million) for its AI platform that detects and sprays weeds in real time.

The round was led by Jerusalem Venture Partners. Montreal’s Panache Ventures also participated in the round, as did Syngenta Ventures, the largest crop chemical producer in the world, 2B Angels, One Way venture, Techstars, and Hyperplane Venture Capital.

Greeneye will use the cash to advance product research and development while expanding its strategic partnerships with sprayer manufacturers. The company wants to commercialize its technology after a series of field trials with farmers and multinational cooperation contracted in 2020.

“The way farmers spray chemicals in agriculture is about to be massively disrupted to a more efficient and sustainable manner,” said Nadav Bocher, Greeneye’s Montreal-based CEO. “Our mission is to reduce the usage of chemicals that are being sprayed in agriculture, utilizing artificial intelligence to provide precise and targeted spraying in real-time, save money for farmers while increasing their productivity and profitability.

Farmers all over the world still spray their fields uniformly using a chemical-intensive treatment, without distinguishing between the crop, the bare soil, and the weeds, says the tech company. This results not only in a significant economic loss to the farmers, but also causes material environmental damage and accelerates the development of herbicide-resistant weeds.

“Digital agriculture at its best”

Greeneye says its selective spraying (SSP) system can easily integrate into any agricultural sprayer, by retrofitting existing sprayers or through working in collaboration with sprayer manufacturers to deliver plant-level variable-rate spraying. It also maps the entire field with cameras at a plant level resolution, offering a robust, and affordable scouting solution.

Moreover, Greeneye says its own trials indicate that the technology reduces herbicide usage by 65‒92 percent.

“Greeneye is an example of digital agriculture at its best”, says Michal Drayman, partner at JVP and Board member at Greeneye. “The unique technology developed by the company increases the yield for agricultural crops, saves money, reduces pollution levels; a groundbreaking breakthrough in sustainability. This is the future agricultural model,

The company is announcing two new board members, JVP Partner Michal Drayman, and Managing Director of Syngenta Ventures, Shubhang Shankar.