MicaSense, a sensor and information company has raised $2M in Series A funding from Parrot. MicaSense delivers a fully integrated hardware solution for agricultural remote sensing from any unmanned aerial platform, tightly coupled with cloud-based analytics to provide crop health information to growers. The funding will enable MicaSense to expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities to support a growing network of customers worldwide.
“Agriculture is one of the fastest-growing market segments for unmanned aircraft commercial applications,” remarked Henri Seydoux, Founder and CEO of Parrot. “The sensors required to capture accurate data are a critical part of the solution, and MicaSense brings this technology to the table.”
MicaSense has developed RedEdge, a rugged yet lightweight, professional-grade multispectral camera optimised to capture precise and repeatable information across five spectral bands.
Unlike consumer digital cameras, the MicaSense RedEdge system collects information that is quantitatively accurate, allowing data to be compared across fields and over time. MicaSense offers this capability to all UAV owners and manufacturers, enabling any small unmanned platform to deliver satellite-quality data at leaf-scale resolution when and where it is needed. After data capture, a secure cloud-based solution for processing, storage, and analytics allows growers and agronomists to easily view and manage their fields.
“The value of remote sensing to growers significantly increases with timely and cost-effective access to high-resolution, precise data,” said Dr. Gabriel Torres, Co-Founder and CEO of MicaSense. “Putting actionable information into the hands of decision makers allows optimization of inputs and early detection of problems, minimizing losses and maximizing crop yields.”
Working with a select group of early adopters throughout 2014, MicaSense has delivered valuable data to growers, covering more than 10,000 acres of high-value crops. MicaSense is expanding its offering of sensors and data services for spring of 2015. Founded by three aerial robotics experts, MicaSense has offices in Seattle, WA and Simi Valley, CA.
Source: Press Release