AgraCheck's Elevator Pitch:
AgraCheck is a smart farming platform that helps farmers easily find and request innovative solutions for their problems.
How did you get the idea to start your company?
My co-founder Sebastian and I [CEO Florian Stark] wrote our master’s theses on digital agriculture technology. We coincidentally met during an innovation challenge on smart farming technology that had a goal to “bring digital agriculture to the farmers.” After exchanging our experiences from research, we decided to work on a solution together.
What does it mean to be a part of Plug and Play’s North Dakota Agtech Program?
For us, it means joining a world-class agtech ecosystem that connects startups with industry leaders, investors, and mentors. We are located in Germany, but our business model only works if we expand it globally. Plug and Play is a perfect partner, as the experts and the corporates in their system are from all over the world.
If your product/service was already being used by everyone globally, what impact would that have?
AgraCheck’s vision is to create sustainable agriculture using smart technologies. Basically, farmers find and integrate new technology faster and, therefore, the transition to a more sustainable agriculture would be accelerated. According to the SMARTer2030 study from the global e-sustainability initiative, an accelerated adaption of novel agriculture technologies could save up to 2 gigatons of CO2 and 716 trillion liters of water by 2030!
How are you incorporating growers into your business plan?
Growers are our users and therefore the center of our business plan. We help them find and compare smart farming solutions for their operations. We understand the needs and challenges of farmers, and we want to support them in making informed and independent decisions about new technologies. Furthermore, we want to create a feedback loop between growers and technology providers, so that they can learn from each other and improve their products and services.
Where do you see your company in 10 years?
AgraCheck is the global platform for smart farming solutions. We have helped millions of farmers to organize their businesses more efficiently and sustainably. By analyzing the data created on our platform, manufacturers of agriculture technology will be able to develop their solutions to be more customer-centric.
By participating in Plug and Play’s North Dakota Agtech Program, what do you hope to accomplish? Have you considered expanding your operations to the Upper Midwest?
First, we want to generate insights into the agriculture industry from overseas. Second, we are searching for partners for POCs or other types of cooperation. Third, by exchanging our ideas and pitching our company to the network, we want to receive valuable feedback that helps us to improve our services. We want to translate our website into English as soon as possible, to be available to the whole US and of course to the Upper Midwest, as well.
This magazine reaches 16,000+ farmers. In one sentence, what would you like to tell them?
If you want to find smart farming technology for your farm, try agracheck.com!
