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Feito wants our plants to work smarter, not harder. Petaluma, a California-based company, is developing both hardware and software to automatically measure the volume and volume of aquatic plants, or founder and CEO Jason Prappas is a “superplant” in a controlled environment with more resistance to food, nutrition and soil. it is. Health.
Pratas launched Fitoon from MIT in 2019 and said he considered these plants “very good” because of their rapid growth. Their growth potential is about automation and engineering.
Phyto technology uses agricultural waste streams as inputs to increase productivity and improve nutrient management and reduce production costs, water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions – more than 50% in some jobs, says Prapas.
In most cases, farms can produce 10 to 20 times more protein per hectare by using five to 10 times less water per crop – for example, alfalfa is the largest water user in California, according to drought management data at the University of California. , Davis
In addition, 77% of the world’s soybeans are eaten for meat and dairy products. This is a big reason why the company started feeding dairy cows. A.D. In 2021, Feto worked with a dairy farmer in Northern California to ensure that the technology would grow plants, in this case, using manure as fodder.
The company’s technology has two aspects: the first is that in shallow ponds, plants grow in a basin. The automated robotic platform then monitors crops, adding nutrients and collecting them as they are prepared.
Fyto worker adjusts and operates Fyto pilot-scale automated farming system. Image thanks Bill Ritzell
In addition, there are no seeds – the plants are propagated in a way called praps, which means “mother” plants are distributed to the next generation. The benefits of this are not land preparation and the plants are doubled every few days, in a controlled environment, all year round.
According to the pilot, the plant can be harvested all year round and is rich in amino acids, energy, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids.
“We had an academic summer last year, feeding cows on an active dairy farm,” Prapas told Tech Crunch. “Another big issue at the international level, but especially in California, is that you can see nutrients – mainly nitrogen – coming into the groundwater from livestock. If they can, they can feed the cows.
He said the company was ahead of its revenue but plans to produce and sell its products by the end of this year. However, the pilot program stressed the need for Fito to support the farm.
Today, the company announced a $ 15 million Srie Fund led by GV, with existing investors AgFunder, Refactor Capital, First Star Ventures and Bolt. The company has now raised a total of $ 18 million. As part of the investment, GV’s general partner Andy Willer has joined Fito’s Board of Directors.
The funding will enable Feito to build robotic shallow ponds, develop automation technology and hire more people. Prapas seeks to bring in business expertise, access to new food products in the market, contact with food producers, and learning how to solve major problems in the agricultural sector.
“Most of our time is focused on feeding cows, but the extent to which we can cope is really exciting,” he added. “We have a biological library of different crops that we grow. These are great for poultry or other amino acids for human nutrition. We are definitely looking forward to something to talk about.”
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