Precision agriculture precision apiculture are the future of farming. BeeHero is growing quickly since its seed round in 2013 and its $19M funding has allowed it to expand beyond its initial markets. It can also find new uses for its unique collection of data from thousands of active honeybee colonies.
This company equips hives using IoT technology, which allows them to monitor their movements and health in real-time and catch mite infestations before the bees get too far. This results in huge increases in crop yields and healthier hives. There are also fewer trips to the tractor. It is inefficient and slow to place hives and drive out every few weeks to check on them. A hive could have fallen or pollinated ineffectively, causing acres of unproductive fields.
Omer Davidi, CEO of BeeHero and co-founder of BeeHero, said that the current way of managing pollination is difficult. You don't know what you are getting, so you hope for the best. This is not a good way to plan your pollination. It is difficult to comprehend the stressors and the diversity of inputs, outputs. However, it is possible to do so with older, less data-intensive industries.
Davidi stated that despite the difficulties of launching in panicked times during the pandemic, their success was remarkable when they made that connection with farmers. Many of these farmers are slowly but surely adopting modern methods. They are skeptical about the benefits of startups and suspect founders of startup companies offering quick solutions (via virtual demos and video calls, no less) as charlatans.
I originally said that guys had to tell everyone that we have increased sunflowers and cashews by one hundred percent. You need to be cautious. This has been a tradition for many generations. He explained that if you claim to have the answer, it immediately damages your credibility. We had to over-promise and under-deliver which forced us to create a lower touch onboarding. Once they see the results, it is easy for them to repeat the process year after year.
BeeHero has been able to work with some of the most prominent almond growers in California. California is the world's largest producer of this crop. It expects to manage 100,000 beehives by the end of this year and become the largest pollination provider in America (currently, they are the fourth largest).
ADM Capital, RaboFood and Agri Innovation Fund and iAngels are the backers of the $15M A round. Entre Capital, Entre Capital and Good Company also contributed. The company also received $4M grants from the European Commission and the BIRD Foundation.
The main goal of the raise will be to expand beyond the U.S.A and almonds. The goal is to first expand to berries, avocados and apples, then to crops such as sunflower and soybeans. It is possible to grow tomatoes in greenhouses. Both Australia and Europe are on the list. However, it all depends on partnerships and other factors.
Davidi hopes that the bee activity database will be an important resource for other purposes, but he is realistic about where they are at this point.
He admitted that he was a data scientist and could tell you that he doesn't know anything. BeeHero is the company that has the most bee-adjacent data. The company's work is just beginning to understand how bees and pollination respond to various weather conditions, crops and planting styles as well as pesticides and invasive species (they are watching for the murder hornets), and many other factors.
Davidi explained that although we are just now learning about this, bees already know about rain 30 minutes before it occurs. How come? How? It is possible to guess, but it could provide useful information for farmers and apiculture in general.
The World Bee Project and Japans Ministry of Culture have formed research partnerships to explore the untapped potential of this data. We will take every insight we can, as pollination is so vital to the survival of the world's food supply.
