MyCrops
Preventing crop loss using AI
MyCrops has developed an AI-based crop monitoring platform, that enables detection and disease diagnosis in horticulture crops. The system helps farmers significantly reduce operational costs and crop waste.
29% of funding target
Highlights
Highlights
A Revolutionary AI Technology for the Horticulture Industry, that is Building the Largest Horticulture Database
MyCrops’ platform enables quick and precise large-scale crop monitoring and disease diagnosis on an individual plant level, using affordable off-the-shelf cameras and advanced algorithm analysis. The company has been collecting images in a big data reservoir since its establishment in 2017, through a mobile app that offers Agronomist-as-a-Service for small-scale farmers regarding the health status of their plants. The company’s database contains over 3 million plant photos, that enrich the system’s abilities and allow accurate pest and disease detection in high-value horticulture crops (including vines, flowers, cannabis and more), and aides in reducing crop waste by 30%. This sets MyCrops apart, with a major competitive edge— large-scale data sets with high variability, imperative for robust algorithm training, that are hardware-agnostic and applicable on various types of crops. Thus, precise identification based on real world situations is achieved. This approach allows the company to implement its technology in varied types of cameras and simultaneously support a large assortment of crops.
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Patents, Israel Innovation Authority Grants and Investments in Israel and Abroad
Since its inception, MyCrops has raised significant investments from private investors from the United States and Europe, along with Israel Innovation Authority grants. Furthermore, the Rockstart Agrifood fund from Denmark, which specializes in investing in purpose-driven agro-tech companies, has invested in the company’s technology. MyCrops has applied for a patents (without PCT) in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and Israel, and is expected to receive the final approval by the end of 2022.
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Rapid Growth in Commercial Activity
The company exhibits an impressive growth rate in commercial activity. The system is currently being used by paying horticulture farms that are leading the field in Israel and abroad. Furthermore, the company is conducting pilots all over the world, which are showing promising results, and is signing on distributors to support the company’s rapid growth, as part of its market penetration strategy.
A Team with Extensive Agriculture and Technological Expertise in Israel and Abroad
Leading MyCrops is a team that has much experience of the common challenges the agriculture industry faces firsthand, due to extensive agronomic and agricultural expertise. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Asaf Levy (MBA), grew up in the Golan Heights as a farmer, where his family owns one of the first wineries in Israel. There, he gained unmatched experience and profound understanding of the economics and operations of a successful horticulture business, and the challenges that come with it. With an extensive network of connections in the international agricultural space, he obtained a B.Sc. in Agriculture Economics and worked as a business consultant in large international companies. MyCrops’ Chief Scientist and co-founder, Assaf Gavish, has over a decade of experience in computer vision for agriculture and deep-learning algorithms, with a M.Sc. from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Guy Avneyon, the company’s CTO, has extensive experience as a developer at several cutting-edge startups, as well as the defense industries in Israel, where he was responsible for server architecture, information systems and cyber security. MyCrops has an impressive board of advisors, amongst which are the former Minister of Agriculture, Shalom Simhon, and Prof. Yoram Kapolnik, former director of the Volcani Center.
An Innovative Agro-Tech Development for an Immense Market, that Enables Farmers to Save Millions of Dollars a Year
Nowadays, the agriculture monitoring sector offers a solutions for open field crops via aerial imaging, while greenhouse crops require a different course of action. Consequently, MyCrops has developed a unique platform that can efficiently detect pests and diseases in high-value roof-protected crops. In this manner, up to 62% of annual crop losses, which occur due to detectable stresses and poor planning, are expected to significantly decrease. The company uses affordable off-the-shelf cameras that are accessible to every farmer, thus providing the most affordable solution on the market. Following the transition to precise and customized treatment—that enables the tracking, detection, diagnosis and treatment recommendations in every plant, down to the leaf level—farmers can save up to 30% of all expenses, including labor force, fertilizers, pesticides and crop waste. Finally, these will result in improved yield quality and revenues.
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Pitch
Pitch
In order to meet the growing global demand for food, the agriculture industry turns to sustainable technological solutions that can meet the needs of the current generation, as well as allow the sustenance of the future generation. These include vision sensors, big data analysis and agricultural treatment down to the leaf level, which will help make farming more efficient, improve the yield and reduce crop waste. Crops that have previously grown in open fields are now being moved into greenhouses and protected facilities. In high-value crops cultivated in greenhouses, where aerial imaging is not possible, such diagnostic tools have yet to be used. Horticulture products require a high level of management, expensive labor costs and many resources, such as water, nutrients and energy. To protect these crops from pests and diseases, which develop quickly in these conditions, this sector necessitates sophisticated management practices and broad agronomical knowledge.
The Need
As the years pass, the understanding that greenhouses will ensure food and energy security for the world’s growing population in the present and future, gradually sinks in. Therefore, greenhouses now cover 13.9 million acres around the world. The transition to high-value crops within greenhouses raises different challenges; such as the need to track immense amounts of crops (which makes diagnosing problems difficult), low yield quality due to a “one-treatment-fits-all” approach, and significant labor costs—that can be easily replaced by technological solutions. Hence, agro-tech companies have started developing different monitoring systems, but these require changes in farm infrastructure, are expensive to install and use, cannot operate indoors, or cannot provide a comprehensive picture down to the leaf level.
The Solution
MyCrops’ platform supports the scouting of millions of plants, detection and disease diagnosis of every plant individually, via affordable, off-the-shelf cameras and advanced AI algorithms. As a result, greenhouses’ performance is expected to dramatically change. Large-scale crop quality will be maintained, due to custom and individualized plant treatment for the first time in the field. Farmers will no longer adopt the one-treatment-fits-all approach, which will allow them to save on water and reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides. The platform offers clear and professional treatment recommendations, thus improving the effectiveness of the workforce at the greenhouse. Ultimately, these abilities are expected to significantly reduce crop waste and improve the quantity and quality of plant-derived products.
The Technology
MyCrop’s system is comprised of four different parts:
- Hardware: Off-the-shelf, easy to install PTZ cameras with 360 degree vision, that provide 24/7 monitoring of every plant separately.
- Camera operation outline: A software that instructs the cameras how to monitor and scan the plants, identifies camera overlaps and points out locations that require the greenhouse workers’ attention.
- The crop engine (AI): The engine receives the photos as input and uses computer vision algorithms to analyze the plants, based on the company’s proprietary database. The crop engine sends the insights to the company’s servers.
- Mobile and Web: The company’s servers send out the information to an easy-to-use interface system, in the form of alerts and messages via different apps.
Pilots and Partnerships:
Since its establishment, MyCrops has successfully recruited the support of investors and prominent clients in Israel and abroad:
• Funding from the Rockstart Fund- one of the world's leading funds and accelerators specializing in agro-tech investments.
• Grants from the Israel Innovation Authority
• A partnership with one of the biggest tractor companies in the world
• MyCrops' customers include Medisun Inc.—a Canadian cannabis farm, one of the biggest in the world.
• An ongoing pilot with one of the world's biggest paper manufacturing companies
MyCrops in the Media
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https://www.mmjdaily.com/article/9344230/we-are-not-just-growers-we-are-scientists/ |
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https://www.mmjdaily.com/article/9341913/ai-powered-cameras-spot-cultivation-issues-24-7/ |
Team
Team
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Asaf Levy (MBA), CEO and co-founder – grew up on his family’s farm and winery, where he gained unmatched experience and a profound understanding of the economics and operations of a successful horticulture business. That background inspired him to obtain a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Before founding MyCrops, he worked as a business consultant for a large strategy consultancy, where he managed multimillion-dollar budgets for Israel’s Ministry of Defense and national train company, among others. His work at MyCrops brings together his deep experience and an extensive network of connections in the agricultural space around the world.
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Assaf Gavish (M.Sc.), Chief Scientist and co-founder – has a decade of experience in computer vision for agriculture. He led the development of an automated system for tracking and quantification of mold development (Botrytis cinerea) on leaves as an undergraduate in the department of plant sciences at Tel Aviv University, followed by a master’s degree at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he tracked disease development using automated fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. Before founding MyCrops, he focused on cultivators’ needs on a medical cannabis farm in Israel. He brings this expertise to MyCrops, where he has incorporated cutting-edge deep-learning algorithms and leads the company’s product strategy.
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Guy Avneyon, CTO, has been coding since the age of 8 and is an exceptional full-stack developer with years of experience as a CTO at several startup companies. He has profound expertise in server architectures, information systems, and cybersecurity. In addition to working for startup companies, Guy worked for years as an independent contractor and provided services to the defense industries in Israel, international car companies, banks, factories, and more. Guy is responsible for all aspects of system architecture, applications and server security, and the service is currently on the market thanks to its high capabilities for Efficient and cost-effective work.
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Shalom Simhon, Board of Advisors – Mr. Simhon is the Former Minister of Agriculture of Israel. He has served in all Israeli governments from 1996 to 2013, specializing in agriculture, economics, and foreign trade. Mr. Simhon has over three decades in the public service, including senior economic positions, with 17 years as a Knesset member and ten years as Minister of Agriculture in the Israeli government.
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Prof. Yoram Kapolnik, Board of Advisors – Director-General of the US-Israel Binational Research and Development Fund (BARD). He is the former Director of the Volcani Center in Israel (2011-2016), holds a Ph.D. in soil microbiology from the Hebrew University, and graduated with a postgraduate degree from the University of California, Davis (1984-1986).
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Gal Shaul, Board of Advisors – Co-Founder and CTO of Augury, a leading AI-based Machine Health solution provider. Founded in 2011, the company raised to-date Hundreds of millions of dollars from top tier VCs, and has multinational corporates as clients, including Colgate, Heineken, Danone, and more.
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Avinoam Brog, Chairman of advisory board – One of the most respected market analysts and political advisors in Israel. Mr. Brog has served as the head researcher and advisor for his brother, former Prime Minister Mr. Ehud Barak, during his election campaigns. Mr. Brog is an advisor to many of the leading Israeli firms and sits on Several boards.
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