CHICAGO – Sente Foundry LLC (“Sente”), in partnership with GrowRay Lighting Technologies and NOBO, announces five startups selected for investment and three named ecosystem partners through its collaborative due-diligence and mentoring program, Indoor AgTech.
Program participants were early-stage startups in lighting tech, automation, computer vision, operations software, fertigation tech, plant data technologies, and workflow management. After completing phase one of the program, which began in October 2020, Sente welcomes these international startups to their portfolio:
- AgEye Technologies – technology that helps indoor farms become sustainable and scalable through significant operational cost reductions.
- PhenoLogic – automates a complex part of plant & crop production, saving money and time while increasing production yields.
- iShence AgTech – provides growers with affordable and effective solutions combining agronomic knowledge with cutting edge technology.
- R.O.A.B. – builder of an autonomous agriculture platform for farmers.
- Vahaa – provides a smart, turnkey solution for urban farming in homes and offices.
Three other startups will join the Indoor Agtech ecosystem and partner with Sente, GrowRay, and NOBO to develop commercial opportunities and technical collaboration.
- CO2 GRO Inc. – uses their patented advanced CO2 Delivery Solutions to accelerate the growth of all value plants safely, economically, and naturally.
- FloEnvy – maker of cultivation software that captures each decision on the ground in real-time so that growers can manage their cultivation from one place at all times.
- Grownetics – developer of a grow optimization platform that leverages the latest sensing and automation tools to make growing the best plants easier than ever.
“Through AgTech 2020, we identified and engaged some incredibly innovative and promising young technology companies. These startups integrate perfectly into our vision of a whole system’s data and efficiency-focused technology future for the cannabis industry,” says Ash Ganley, GrowRay Technologies CEO.
Startups in Sente’s Indoor AgTech program received an in-depth analysis and evaluation, followed by a structured process to prepare them better to attract serious investors and customers. They worked on projects connecting them with indoor and greenhouse customers and an ecosystem of indoor AgTech investors and service providers.
“Indoor Agriculture can provide innovative solutions to growing challenges related to supply of nourishing food to all the communities across the globe, in sustainable and efficient ways. Investing in new technologies that make indoor agriculture more efficient not only makes business sense, but it also is impactful,” adds Serhat Cicekoglu, Sente Founder & CEO.
The five companies selected for investment move to Phase Two of the program, including a $75,000 cash investment. Sente will also provide another ten months of official hands-on support, which continues long after the formal program is complete.
One or more of these startups could receive a follow-on investment in future rounds based on their success.
About Sente Foundry, L.L.C.
Sente Foundry, L.L.C. (“Sente”) is a Chicago-based startup investment, scouting, and innovation platform. Sente searches the world for the most high-potential startups and helps them scale through partnerships with international corporations and investors. With Sente, startups can scale faster and do so internationally; investors get line-of-sight and a new way to invest in the world’s most promising startups; and corporations accelerate innovation like never before. Since its founding in 2013, Sente has supported early-stage companies that operate in over 40 countries, received over $35M in funding, and have generated revenues exceeding $80M. Find Sente online at https://sente.link.
About GrowRay
GrowRay’s PhD-driven team of horticulture scientists and engineers design and manufacture state-of-the-art patented L.E.D. lighting for the greenhouse and indoor agricultural industry. GrowRay’s L.E.D. lighting products have a documented track record of significantly increasing the production output of high-DLI crops by 10-25% and dramatically reducing the energy cost by up to 45%. This product has applications in cannabis and other agricultural operations with exponential growth potential. GrowRay is developing other innovative ancillary products to promote and develop new technologies/products for the industry through its joint venture with Sente Foundry in Chicago. Find GrowRay in person in Boulder, Colorado, and online at https://growray.com/.
