US-based grain storage technology developer TeleSense has raised $10.2m in a series B round from a consortium including financial services firm Rabobank’s Food & Agri Innovation Fund and chemicals producer UPL
Venture capital firm Finistere Ventures led the round, which included Fulcrum Global Capital, Artesian and Mindset Ventures.
TeleSense has combined artificial intelligence and internet-of-things technology in a system called CellularSpear which generates data about stored grain, helping its owners avoid spoilage.
The company has also added Soren Wolck Schroder, former chief executive of agribusiness Bunge, and Mark Palmquist, CEO of malt supplier United Malt and former CEO of grain storer GrainCorp, to its board of directors. It will use the money to expand its global sales channels.
Richard O’Gorman, managing director of the Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund, said: “Rabobank has supported TeleSense since 2018. The original mission to digitise the grain supply chain is being realised.”
TeleSense closed a $6.5m A round in August 2018 led by Finistere Ventures and backed by Rabobank’s Food & Agri Innovation Fund, Maersk Growth and Trailhead Capital, which invested on behalf of shipping firm Maersk and agriculture commodities broker McDonald Pelz respectively, as well as Congruent Ventures, Radicle Growth and Plug & Play Ventures.
Image courtesy of TeleSense.
