• Taranis

  Led · Series C · Jul 2020

  Taranis provides an AI-powered crop intelligence platform that leverages leaf-level imagery and machine learning to deliver full-service, leaf-level data capture for growers and ag advisors. Its models are trained on a dataset of over 200 million AI-data points. Since starting in 2015, Taranis has worked with top agricultural retailers and crop protection companies, serving millions of acres across the United States, Brazil, and Europe. Led by CEO Bar Veinstein and President Ofir Schlam, the platform helps ag advisors demonstrate value to growers, accelerate decision making, simplify management, and improve growers' bottom lines. The company raised $40M in a Series D that brought total funding to $100M. Taranis plans to use the funds to accelerate growth, expand globally, and invest in technologies to make the agri-carbon market a reality for growers. Taranis provides aerial imaging and analytics to deliver leaf-level pest diagnosis and customized prescription plans via its AI2 SmartScout Solutions. Its platform leverages a database of more than 1 million threat species and combines drone and plane imagery with satellite feeds to create high-resolution (0.3 millimeter pixel) maps. The company says it can cover 100 acres in six minutes and produce diagnoses 20 times faster than manual scouting with 20 times more data points. About 80% of clients currently use Taranis contractors rather than operate their own equipment. Planned uses of funding include improving diagnostic accuracy and comprehensiveness, identifying new pests and weeds across more crops, and geographic expansion across the Americas and into Asia-Pacific markets. Taranis intends to integrate its data with partners and equipment providers rather than move into spraying itself. Taranis provides aerial scouting and deep-learning software that analyzes high-resolution images captured by high-speed drones or manned aircraft to identify insect damage, nutrient deficiencies, diseases and other crop issues. Its platform delivers magnified images detailed enough for users to see which pests are affecting plants. The software targets commodity crops including corn, cotton, wheat, soybean, sugarcane and potatoes. Taranis says its technology is currently used by farms in Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The company plans to expand into more countries with the new funding, explicitly including Australia. Founded in 2015 by Ofir Schlam, Asaf Horvitz, Eli Bukchin and Ayal Karmi, the company combines hardware (aerial imaging) and AI to streamline traditional, labor-intensive crop monitoring. Taranis offers a precision agriculture intelligence platform that combines deep learning with proprietary datasets including sub-mm aerial imagery, field sensors, satellite imagery, weather forecasts and data from its field scouting app. The solution helps farmers monitor fields, make informed decisions and act to prevent losses from crop disease and pests. Led by CEO Ofir Schlam, the company is focused on scaling its pest and disease prediction platform and expanding its global reach. Taranis has subsidiaries in Argentina and Brazil and is establishing a U.S. office while expanding into India and Russia. The company has raised $9.5M in total funding to date and intends to use the new proceeds to accelerate platform growth and international expansion. Taranis builds crop-disease prediction software that combines public weather services, satellite imagery, and a proprietary high-resolution weather forecast model to detect micro weather conditions. It layers a localized model with local public data and deploys weather stations roughly every two miles on farms that lack them, and can integrate with farms' existing stations or cover station costs for full-service customers over more than 1,000 acres. The company offers a SmartScout app that integrates predictions and sends messages and chat notifications to farmers' networks of service providers to help prioritize farm visits. Taranis focuses on predicting disease before crop impact—for example detecting infection periods for fire blight—and aims to reduce spray loads and increase yields. The service is priced at $3 per acre with no user limits. Go-to-market efforts target Brazil, Argentina and the U.S., prioritizing soybeans, corn and cotton, though the product can be used for other crops. With proceeds from its seed round, the company is expanding its team from four co‑founders (who self-funded the startup's first 18 months) to about 10 staff including developers, meteorologists, agronomists and sales.

• Enuma

  Participated · Series B · May 2020

  Enuma develops game-based, self-directed educational applications for children, with flagship product Todo Math designed to teach foundational math and literacy without adult assistance. Todo Math has recorded over 8 million downloads worldwide since its 2014 launch. The company recently expanded its product lineup with Todo English, launched last month in Korea, which combines game-based activities, worksheets, videos and parent progress reports via chatbots. Enuma also operates Kitkit School and Enuma Geulbang to address educational inequities and teach literacy to out-of-school children and multicultural families. Founded in 2012 and led by CEO Sooinn Lee, the company maintains offices in Berkeley, Seoul and Beijing. Financially, Enuma closed a $9M Series B in May 2020. Enuma develops game-based education software to help children—especially those who struggle due to physical, cognitive, cultural or economic constraints—learn reading, writing and math independently. The company is best known for Todo Math, a multi-award-winning math app launched in 2014 that has charted more than five million downloads worldwide. To reach children in developing countries, Enuma developed Kitkit School, which was selected as one of five finalists in the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE competition. The company says it will use investment to develop partnerships around the world and create a viable model to reach children underserved by traditional education systems. Enuma’s leadership includes Founder and CEO Sooinn Lee, an Ashoka Fellow. The company is headquartered in Berkeley and maintains offices in Seoul and Beijing. LocoMotive Labs builds Todo Math, a mobile math‑learning app for children ages three to eight that uses game‑design elements and Universal Design for Learning to accommodate different learning styles. The app offers exploration gameplay with treasure boxes and rewards, multiple input modes (writing or drag‑and‑drop), and customizable problem presentations to tailor lessons to users. Todo Math has been downloaded 1.1 million times overall, including about 350,000 downloads in China, and is used in roughly 1,000 U.S. classrooms. Founder Sooinn Lee, a former game developer inspired by her son with special needs, aims to boost confidence in young children who struggle with traditional worksheets. The company plans to expand into Asia—initially focusing on China, which accounts for half of its new users—by localizing cultural references and promoting mobile alternatives to paper‑based cram schools. Todo Math is aligned with U.S. Common Core standards and LocoMotive Labs emphasizes adapting content for different curricula during international expansion.

• Validus

  Led · Series B · May 2020

  Founded in 2015, Validus operates a vertically integrated lending platform that combines supply-chain financing, proprietary credit analytics and institutional capital to extend credit to underserved SMEs across Southeast Asia. The company partners with regional and international banks as well as large corporates to originate and distribute loans. To date, it states that it has disbursed more than US$5 billion in financing and that its Indonesia business has been profitable for the past three years. After divesting its Singapore operations to GXS Bank in April, Validus is concentrating on Indonesia and Thailand, markets it sizes at a combined US$46 billion for supply-chain financing. The firm plans to use fresh capital to scale operations and grow its loan book, projecting a doubling of loan volumes over the next three years. Management believes its integrated model and data-driven credit underwriting position it to drive greater financial inclusion for SMEs. The company’s long-term vision is to deepen its regional presence while maintaining profitability in key markets.

No current team members are available.