Canadian Agtech company Croptimistic Technology raises $5.2M in Series A funding led by Forage Capital Partners

Jun 04, 2021

Naicam, Saskatchewan – Croptimistic Technology Inc. (Croptimistic) announces $3.5M in Series A investment from Forage Capital Partners (Forage) to complement an additional $1.7M in funding from the founders and institutional debt. This new capital will help accelerate the growth of Croptimistic’s SWAT MAPS technology. The SWAT technology ecosystem provides farmers and partners with high resolution soil foundation maps to execute variable rate fertilizer, seed, soil amendment, herbicide, and precision water management. Since the first year of operations in 2018, Croptimistic has grown to 18 staff across Canada, the USA and South Africa. It has nearly 100 partners spanning 4 countries and $2M in revenue in 2020.

Croptimistic CEO and co-founder Cory Willness says, “We are excited to take the next step of our journey with the team at Forage. Jim Taylor and Steven Leakos have already made strides due to their extensive expertise in the Agtech space. We want to acknowledge our incredible team based in 3 countries who have worked tirelessly to get us here and our COO, Rob Harris, who was instrumental in executing this funding.” CTO and co-founder Derek Massey adds, “The funds raised will be used to add developers and professional staff to our Kelowna, BC hub to build out the software and hardware solutions in order to meet the high growth demands from the millions of acres in our system.”

Steven Leakos of Forage says “We are proud to partner with the team at Croptimistic, a world leader in variable rate farming applications. Croptimistic’s SWAT MAPS, software, world class hardware, and current IP portfolio together with their strong agronomic background provides farmers with an excellent return on investment and significantly reduces the overall environmental footprint to their farming operation.”

Croptimistic also welcomes new investor, Greg Stewart, who has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors. Stewart is currently a director at the Bank of Canada and was a former President and CEO at Farm Credit Canada (FCC), a leading agricultural lender and self-sustaining Crown Corporation. Stewart says, “I’m honoured and excited by the opportunity to be an investor and appointed Chairman of the Board for Croptimistic Technology. Their proprietary technology is solving real-world issues in the agricultural space, leading the way with effective variable rate application, and reducing and monitoring environmental impact in the sector. The future is bright for global agriculture, and this is a crucial piece of the puzzle to allow for sustainable and cost-effective farming.”

Source : swatmaps

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.