OnFarm Systems gains funding from Invested Development

Invested Development recently invested in OnFarm Systems, an agriculture technology startup that aims to combine software and hardware to provide a platform of information to better management and decision-making.

Invested Development is an early stage investment fund manager that focuses on reducing poverty by providing risk capital investments in early stage startups and support “radically affordable and innovative solutions to poverty in alternative energy, mobile technology, and agricultural technology.”

Californian based OnFarm joins software and hardware to provide a better management and decision-making platform for farmers. Using anything from soil moisture sensors to weather stations, OnFarm combines these multiple data sources into one user-friendly, cloud-based dashboard to make decision-making on the farm easier.

OnFarm joins Invested Development’s BSP Fund portfolio of eleven companies across Africa, India, Latin America, and the US. OnFarm is the first agriculture technology investment in the portfolio operating in the US.

Other ventures included in Invested Development’s portfolio are the African based SolarNow which provides a strong distribution network of solar alternative energy and the South African based VillageTelco which aims to build low-cost community telephone network hardware and software that “can be set up in minutes anywhere in the world.”

OnFarm integrates agriculture information in a cloud based system that aims for farmers to increase yield and quality while reducing fertilizer, water, labor, and energy. This information is accessible in the office or the field on nearly any device. The company also offers a decision support system which enables farmers to increase profit while maximizing key inputs such as nutrients, water, labor, and energy.

Farmers can “prioritize efficiency” and “preserve quality” in order to stay competitive and meet growing demand for food. Invested Development’s fund comes from the ICT, agricultural and alternative energy focussed BSP Fund which aims to provide solutions for underserved markets.