Nathan Rosenberg, the founder of the farm automation platform Farmblox, emphasizes a crucial lesson for selling technology to farmers: respect their autonomy and traditions. “Farmers are multigenerational,” Rosenberg told TechCrunch. “It’s not just a profession, it’s a community, a way of life, and you need to respect that. You can’t come in as a Silicon Valley tech person and tell them what to do.”
A Unique Approach to Agtech
Farmblox takes a distinct approach to agricultural technology compared to its predecessors. The startup offers a solar-powered connected monitor that integrates with third-party sensors already used by farmers. This setup allows farmers to monitor soil moisture levels and water usage more efficiently. The collected data is fed into an AI-powered automation platform, accessible from anywhere.
“If you say I can increase your yield with this fancy AI thing, they aren’t going to believe that,” Rosenberg explained. “But they will believe in not having to go out and check on this specific thing.” This practical approach has resonated with farmers, leading to 55 farms adopting Farmblox in just 18 months. Rosenberg attributes this success to giving farmers the autonomy to customize and implement the system themselves. “It’s very important for us that the farmer installs us themselves,” he said. “We don’t do white glove service. Of course, we are here if they need it, but they do it all themselves with very little documentation.”
Addressing Labor Shortages
Farmblox aims to tackle the significant issue of labor shortages on farms. The automation provided by Farmblox reduces the number of workers needed on a farm at any given time. Rosenberg’s personal experience as a teenager, where he worked on an organic farm checking sensors manually, highlighted the inefficiency that Farmblox seeks to eliminate. Currently, Farmblox covers over 14,000 acres of farmland, with Rosenberg using his earnings as a top Minecraft developer to bootstrap the startup. Recently, Farmblox raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Hyperplane, with participation from Slow Ventures, MHS Capital, and Service Provider Capital.
Industry Recognition and Future Plans
Vivjan Myrto, the founder and managing partner at Hyperplane, discovered Farmblox at a startup event. Hyperplane, having backed other agtech startups, recognized the growing issue of water shortages on farms. While Farmblox isn’t solely focused on water conservation, its technology aids in tracking water usage. “We were very impressed that this team has bootstrapped this from their dorm room to [more than] 50 customers in 18 months,” Myrto said. “In this industry, automating farms has been very costly and prohibitive. What is unique about Farmblox is the base station is solar-powered and very cheap. It has data and sensors that are way ahead of everyone else.”
Farmblox initially targeted high-margin, tree-based crops such as maple, vineyards, and orchards, where sensors can remain on trees post-harvest. Rosenberg anticipates expanding to lower-margin crops like tomatoes in the future.
The seed funding will be used to extend Farmblox’s reach to more farms. “We are building tools around not just monitoring and giving real-time data to the farmer but really connecting that with automation flows to create new and exciting bundles of solutions that they can deploy on the farm,” Rosenberg said.
By respecting farmers’ traditions and offering practical, self-installable technology, Farmblox is paving the way for a more efficient and sustainable future in agriculture.
By Impact Lab
