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AI-Driven Solutions for Modern Agritech: Interview with SOTY 2024 Nominee, Cropler
by CroplerOctober 22nd, 2024
Too Long; Didn't Read
Cropler is the world’s first real-time remote photo plant monitoring technology that is about to become an AI-powered digital agronomical assistant. Cropler uses smart AI- powered mobile [agri-camera) to help [farmers] and [agroholdings] identify the key phenophases, diseases, and inputs efficiency.
Hey Hackers!
Cropler has been nominated in
Please vote for us here:
1️⃣
2️⃣
3️⃣ https://hackernoon.com/startups/industry/hardware
4️⃣ https://hackernoon.com/startups/industry/climatetech
Meet Cropler
Cropler is the world’s first real-time remote photo plant monitoring technology that is about to become an AI-powered digital agronomical assistant. Cropler uses smart AI-powered mobile agricameras to help farmers and agribusinesses identify the key phenophases, diseases, and inputs efficiently to perform necessary agricultural operations in a timely manner.
The Winning Team
1️⃣ Nik Bedunkevich
Founder & CEO
With over 10 years in software and 7+ years in hardware development, Nik's leadership in precision agriculture, backed by his experience at OneSoil, where he co-founded and led hardware development, has been instrumental. His background in Radio Engineering and his ability to integrate data exchange and soil analysis sensors have enabled Cropler to push the boundaries of AI-driven agricultural solutions.
2️⃣ Marie Sinkova
CMO
Marie’s 6+ years in marketing, including her impactful work at MEDvidi and EduDo, have significantly boosted our brand’s visibility. Her ability to develop engaging content and manage successful teams has increased revenue and brand recognition while minimizing negative reviews. Her strategic approach in various marketing areas has laid a solid foundation for Cropler development.
3️⃣ Andrii Zbrytskyi
BDM
With over 17 years in the agritech area, Andri Zbrytskyi has witnessed firsthand the ins and outs of clients resulting in better client/corporate relations, sales and even more business development for the company. AI agriculture solutions have found strategic partnerships thanks to his efforts and these have increased expanding the market base.
4️⃣ Xenia Niaborskaya
Head of Design
Xenia’s experience of more than 4 years in UX/UI design has played a key role in ensuring that our user interfaces work as expected and look good as well. Her capability in business-centered design and the process of user-centered design has improved the usability of our platform tremendously.
5️⃣ Eugene Voronets
Tech Adviser
Eugene’s 10+ years in backend development, particularly his expertise in high-load systems, ensures the robustness and scalability of our technology. His work at OneSoil, building APIs and fostering collaborations with industry leaders like John Deere and AWS, has played a critical role in shaping Cropler’s technical infrastructure.
What Cropler does differently
We aim to revolutionize agriculture with Cropler's global plant monitoring technology, which uses AI-powered agricameras and remote sensing data to provide farmers, agronomists, and agribusinesses with predictive field insights and global yield analytics for optimized crop production.
Cropler’s unique, AI-powered plant health data allows farmers and agribusinesses to address issues before they escalate, unlike drones or weather stations, which often provide information only after problems have already progressed and plants experience severe damage. Early disease and crop stress detection ensures that farmers can act timely to maximize yields and optimize fertilizers and pesticides application.
Cropler isn’t just about monitoring—it’s about driving actionable insights that make farming more efficient, sustainable, and profitable.
Milestones and achievements
🏆 357 devices deployed
🏆 Revenue of $53k in 2024
🏆 AI disease & leaf damages integration
🏆 iOS & Android app release
🏆 10 dealer centers in multiple countries
🏆 16 countries (EU + USA) have chosen our devices
🏆 USA & EU issued certificates for our devices
🏆 EIT Food Test Farm winner Finalist of 2024
🏆 China Overseas Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
🏆 Partnerships with key market players (Varda Field ID, AGRIVI, SAS Agro, Kalo, Basf (Xarvio), Bayer, Syngenta etc.)
Lessons learned
1️⃣ This was quite a challenge in building AI tools that could accurately adapt to the vast complexities of agronomic data. Initial models developed were rather far from the precision that agronomists required, struggling with symptom and stage variability across different crops. However, we further invested in our AI capabilities, enhancing our models by adding extensive data sets and collaborations with agricultural experts. This achieved two things: it not only enhanced the precision of our AI but also made our tools an inseparable companion for any agronomist by providing them with second-to-none insights and recommendations.
2️⃣ Another challenge was to convince the highly practical and quite skeptical agronomists to adopt this high-tech tool called Cropler. So, we shifted strategy and focused our efforts on education and hands-on involvement, showing agronomists not only how but why our technology worked.
3️⃣ One of the most significant challenges of launching the international expansion of our solution was overcoming the many regulatory, environmental, and operational hurdles spanning across continents, which drastically changed from region to region. We learned flexibility and local partnerships. By aligning ourselves with local agronomic experts and adapting our technology to meet regional regulations and needs, the stage was set for global impact-development of preparations for a major rollout in Europe by 2025.
4️⃣ Last, but not least, was a technical and logistical challenge to scale our technology from pilot projects to widespread usage by agronomists. So, we invested in scalable architecture and robust systems, supporting high demand for real-time data processing and global access.
Our platform is not a tool; it's a 24/7 digital agronomist turning that data into actionable and timely advice.
What Startups of The Year means to us
Entering into HackerNoon's Startups of the Year is not an opportunity for Cropler but rather a stage to revolutionize the agribusiness panorama. We come to introduce our pioneering AI agri-camera technology that's going to change the world and make agriculture more predictable and effective. This is a moment in the spotlight to galvanize an industry for the attention of global investors, tech enthusiasts, and potential partners who are committed to transforming agriculture through innovation as much as we are.
To be present there is already a loud statement of the capability and vision that we have.
More than that, we are not just in attendance; we are leading from the front in this charge into the future where technology and sustainability come together to remake the standard of agriculture around the world. The insights and feedback that we get here from this eclectic tech community are very critical; it fuels our drive toward the 2025 launch of our Global Analytics.
For us, this is more than a competition; this is a launching pad toward growth, visibility, and impact.
Join us while we lead the way to a more efficient, sustainable, and predictable agricultural future!
Vote for us today: https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-warsaw-poland
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