An agri-tech company looking to launch its new app which controls drones to make walking in the fields a thing of the past has raised over £120,000.
With a team made up of farmers who know drones, Drone Ag, the company behind the app, is moving into software, raising investment to develop 'Skippy Scout'.
After choosing a field, the app flies the drone, collecting high resolution imagery at various points on the land.
These are downloaded straight to the phone and can be analysed for Growth Stage, Green Area Index, Weeds and Disease.
Farmers can then share the data from the phone at the fields edge.
Drone Ag has been offering farming-focused drone systems and certified training for over 3 years, and this is their first move into software which is a fast growing area in modern agriculture.
Figures suggest the global agricultural drone market is expected to grow at CAGR of 30.2% between 2017-2024.
Online fundraiser
In order to realise their goals, the company has turned to an online crowdfunding platform to raise £250,000. It has currently raised over £120,000.
The trial app is working, with over 200 farmers and agronomists signed up to test it. Once launched, the commercial version will run as SaaS, with 2 subscription tiers for farmers and crop consultants.
“In terms of taking and analysing photos, it’s like other crop scouting apps you can get, except with Skippy your phone camera can fly around the field by itself,” said Drone Ag's Jack Wrangham.
“It makes field scouting more efficient through the use of affordable drone systems, which many farmers and agronomists already own. The aim is to save time, while also providing more information which can be easily shared.
“You can use popular drone systems like the DJI Mavic and Phantom series, using an iOS based mobile phone. These drone systems can be purchased for as little as £500, so the cost of entry is relatively low,” he added.
