A global agtech company that helps fruit producers by providing yield monitoring and forecast data is looking to expand operations in the Southern Hemisphere, including Australia and New Zealand.
Pixofarm is a digital solution, which Co-Founder & CEO, Farid Edrisian says empowers fruit producers worldwide to get the most out of their orchards.
"They can save a lot of time when it comes to digitalizing manual processes like fruit counting and fruit sizing," he said. "So, instead of counting 300 fruit on a tree, they just take a picture of it. By getting reliable data on fruit size, fruit count, size class distribution and yield estimation weeks in advance, fruit producers can optimise the application of inputs, increase their production and efficiently plan and improve their operational activities such as logistics, packaging, warehousing, sales and marketing."
The company was founded in 2019 in Vienna/Austria and is a recent winner of several global awards, including: 2020 Interpoma Startup Awards (Winner), 2020 Global Startup Awards (Best Newcomer) and 2020 Startup Europe Smart Agrifood Summit, (Best Practical Solution for the Agrifood Sector).
"It is convenient; Pixofarm is very easy to use," Mr Edrisian said. "You don’t need any investment in infrastructure or expensive hardware devices. All you need is your smartphone. You have 100 per cent flexibility. You have an AI-Powered tool in your pocket. You can use it as often as you want and whenever you want. It is reliable; Pixofarm delivers you accurate and reliable results. As a decision support system, it delivers you valuable and actionable results and you can benefit from new updates and features every season."
He added it is very simple to use Pixofarm, and that all that the clients need is a smartphone. The application can be downloaded quickly and users can start immediately with data collection, across three main services: Fruit Counting, Fruit Sizing and Forecasting.
"For Fruit Counting, the clients define the number of trees they want to count the fruits on and they need to take 1 picture from each tree," Mr Edrisian said. "For Fruit Sizing, the clients define the number of apples they want to measure and they need to take one picture from each apple. For the forecast service, they need to select six representative trees in their blocks and take pictures of 18 apples on each of them. After repeating this process at least four times during the season, they get reliable yield estimations. Based on this data, they can optimize their processes and can plan activities like marketing, sales, logistics and packaging in advance to increase their turnover and save resources."
Pixofarm is used currently for apples, but the company is working on integrating citrus fruits and pears as the next crops. Mr Edrisian says the beta version should be available from this coming season.
"We currently have clients in more than 20 countries - mostly from Europe, but there are existing clients also in South Africa, Australia, NZ, and Chile," he said. "These countries are definitely our focus for the southern hemisphere. We have in some countries local representatives and we are approaching other markets directly through remote video calls. Pixofarm has closed an investment and partnership deal with UPL, one of the world’s leading agri-inputs companies and a key supplier of crop protection, biological and organic inputs to fruit growers. This deal is a strong endorsement of Pixofarm’s unique technology. Our partnership with UPL will give us endless opportunities to provide value for fruit producers, expand our solution across the fruit production value chain and ensure sustainable fruit production. We look forward to working alongside UPL as we continue to expand around the world."
For more information
Farid Edrisian
Pixofarm
Phone +43 720 513800 (Austria)
office@pixofarm.com
www.pixofarm.com