Participated · Series B · Jun 2020

Connecterra’s core product is a data platform that powers two applications: Ida for Farmers (a farmer-facing sensor and insights product) and Enterprise (a farm advisor/consultant app). Ida for Farmers is sold in 18 countries and the Enterprise app is used with farmers and advisors globally. The company uses AI to generate heat, health and performance insights and to enable data-driven decision making across the dairy value chain. Connecterra was co-founded by CEO Yasir Khokhar and Saad Ansari in 2015 and is focused on advancing its platform capabilities. Following the recent investment, Datamars acquired the Ida sensor business and took a majority share in the company, while Connecterra remains independent to continue development of Enterprise. Management says the partnership will accelerate scale, bring higher-quality cross-value-chain data, and unlock new insights and innovations to support sustainability and productivity goals. The Ida team is joining Datamars to maintain and support existing farmer customers as the companies integrate technologies. Connecterra, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Amsterdam, develops Ida, a predictive intelligence platform that combines proprietary sensor hardware, animal data, third-party enterprise data, and machine-learning algorithms. Ida has evolved from sensor tech to a full-stack technology and AI platform that provides farmers and industry stakeholders with actionable insights to improve farm and value-chain efficiency. The company operates in 16 countries and aims to empower animal farmers of all sizes to increase productivity while reducing the environmental footprint of animal agriculture. With the new funding, Connecterra plans to accelerate the growth and deployment of Ida and democratize access to its technology to millions of farmers. Management cites COVID-19–driven digital transformation as increasing demand for sustainable and efficient farming practices. The raise also positions Connecterra as one of the largest Series B financings for a European livestock-tech company and among the largest Series B rounds for a Dutch agtech startup focused on farm animals. Connecterra builds Ida, an AI-powered dairy farmer assistant that processes wearable-sensor and farm data to detect health issues, reproductive timing, and feeding problems while continuously improving via automated learning. Ida detects mastitis and lameness at least 24 hours before they become critical, identifies cows on heat and optimal insemination timing, and flags digestive disorders such as ketosis. The company is testing features to predict calving and to identify cows most efficient for breeding. Connecterra integrates multiple data sources rather than centering on the sensor, and targets farmers with herds from about 50 to 10,000 cows. It has several thousands of subscribers and works with larger industry clients including Danone. Ida is available in Canada, the US and Western Europe, with interest from markets including Ecuador, South Africa, and Mongolia. Connecterra plans to use new funding to further develop its technology, expand into new markets, and grow its team by hiring field technicians and account managers in the US and Europe. Connecterra, founded in 2014 and led by CEO Yasir Khokhar, develops a dairy health service combining sensor technologies and machine learning. Its core product is a wearable device that monitors herds in real time and transmits data to a cloud platform for analysis and prediction of behavioral patterns. The platform's insights aim to help farmers improve milk production per animal and optimize breeding cycles. The company will use proceeds from its $1.8M seed round to further develop its machine learning platform, grow its team, and accelerate trials and market delivery. Connecterra is supported by Microsoft through the Bizspark Plus Program. The company is based in Amsterdam and targets the dairy industry with its sensor-plus-cloud service.