Agricultural equipment producer Valmont Industries agreed on Wednesday to acquire Israel-based agriculture technology provider Prospera Technologies for approximately $300m, allowing corporates Tekfen, Qualcomm and Cisco to exit.
Prospera has developed a software platform which uses machine learning and computer vision technology to monitor and analyse the growth and health of crops, recording climate and visual data from fields to provide actionable information for farmers.
The deal is expected to close by the end of next month and follows a two-year strategic partnership between the parties through which they monitored 5 million acres of agricultural land in 2020.
Daniel Koppel, co-founder and CEO of Prospera, said: “We are excited about the future and the opportunity to continue to further our work to feed an expanding global population through our machine learning technologies that allow growers to make more informed, efficient and scientific decisions.”
Industrial conglomerate Tekfen invested an undisclosed amount in the company in June 2019 through its Tekfen Ventures subsidiary.
Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, had led a $15m series B round for Prospera in 2017 that included Cisco Investments, which invested on behalf of networking equipment producer Cisco, as well as Israel Cleantech Ventures and existing backer Bessemer Venture Partners.