Proveye secures €225,000 in funding from the European Space Agency

Proveye an Irish agtech company that is pioneering the use of digital image data for both agriculture and environment protection, has announced that it has been awarded €225,000 in funding from the European Space Agency (ESA), through the ARTES 4.0 Downstream Applications Demonstration Fund.

The funding will support the company’s commercialization of its grassland management platform which Proveye plans to bring to market in 2023.

Proveye integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), satellites and AI technology into a single platform that represents a new generation (or higher level) of accuracy and clarity in grassland mapping for agricultural advisors, seed suppliers, agri-input providers, commodity brokers and government agencies.

The funding announced builds on the success of Proveye’s previous work with ESA on automated satellite image processing and UAV image analysis of grass swards.

Grass is the most important agricultural crop in the world, occupying about 70% of agricultural land and supporting an industry worth about US$1 trillion. The management of grasslands currently lacks the precision available for cereal crops, with a farmer typically walking just 5% of the farm area before making management decisions. With fertilizer prices increasing by 150% in the past year and pressures on farmers and food processors to produce food more sustainably, grassland advisors need digital services to manage large areas of land efficiently.  

The Proveye grass management platform integrates satellite and UAV imagery, using AI methods, to map grass yield and grass quality. Real-time information on yield is critical for managing grazing, grass forage, fertilisation and grass husbandry.

Proveye, a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out based at NovaUCD in Dublin and which has previously completed the ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Ireland program, is also validating the platform  in Ireland, Europe and New Zealand by engaging with pioneering customers through pilot field trials.

“We are delighted to receive this funding from the European Space Agency to further advance the commercialization of our grass management platform," said Jerome O’Connell, CEO & Co-founder, Proveye. "Through our platform, agri-advisors and input-providers will for the first time be able to provide the farmer with a complete near-100% accurate picture of their grasslands in near real-time. This will enable a farmer to see 100% of the farm area down to plant-by-plant detail, which will be a game changer in terms of productivity and sustainability of grass-based agriculture.”

Professor Nick Holden, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, co-founder, Proveye added, “Our technology has the potential to revolutionize grass management not only for the dairy and beef sectors, but also for industries such as renewable energy production and grass-based biorefining.”

Earlier this year Proveye was named the 'Ornua Most Innovative AgTech Start-up of 2022' following the completion of the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre’s inaugural Agccelerator program.

Proveye is an Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) company.