BASF Venture Capital GmbH invests in start-up WayBeyond

BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture capital company of BASF SE, is investing in WayBeyond.

WayBeyond, founded in New Zealand and now operating out of the United States, is an “Internet of things (IoT) and software as a service (SaaS) company that aims to improve crop yields, crop quality and grower profitability for low-to-mid tech controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) operations using data capture, farm management, and prediction tools.”

Their main product is FarmRoad, an AI-powered agronomy insights platform. The company calls FarmRoad an “an expert agronomist for every farm that gives growers farm- and crop-specific insights and recommendations to transform their growing decisions, improving yield, consistency and quality for more sustainable farming.” WayBeyond also works with seed producers using the FarmRoad platform and its crop-contextual AI for “seed efficacy and quality transformation.”

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“The use of controlled-environment agriculture to grow fruits and vegetables continues to expand globally,” Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital GmbH, said. “As the next generation of growers enters the agriculture industry, we believe that their entry point will be CEA. WayBeyond is positioned to transform the way these CEA farmers grow the crops that will feed our growing population.”

“We are delighted to have BVC as an investor. As a strategic VC fund, they are in a special position to appreciate WayBeyond as a disruptive business model. We are perfectly aligned around the vision of a digitally empowered, sustainable agricultural industry that will bring vast benefits to the seed and crop protection providers. Together, we are focused on supporting farm operators and growers,” said Darryn Keiller, Founder and CEO of WayBeyond.