Mar 28, 2022

SVG Ventures, BASF team up for digital agricultural solutions

SVG Ventures Thrive has partnered with BASF on their AgroStart program as they expand their footprint into North America.

AgroStart is BASF’s open innovation platform and the AgroStart North American roll-out will initially focus on identifying solutions that enable farmers to manage and extract value from the large amount of data they create on the farm.

To meet the needs of a rising global population that is expected to reach 9.7 billion people by the year 2050, global food production will need to be expedited by an estimated 70%. This necessitates the adoption of emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, Big data, augmented reality, sensors, and drones for the control and optimization of agricultural production processes, supply chains and food systems.

Smallholder farmers encounter multiple problems that severely limit their agricultural productivity and income potential while also facing harmful repercussions of continued global temperature increases, including smaller yields and greater prevalence of crop and livestock diseases and pests. Digital agriculture can help these farmers surmount their challenges, increasing their productivity and integration into food value chains and supporting their adoption of climate-smart practices.

“We are delighted to work with BASF on AgroStart as it expands its footprint into North America,” said John Hartnett, CEO and founder of SVG Ventures Thrive. “It’s been great to see the program grow over the years, and we are excited to join forces leveraging our ecosystem and innovation platform to advance the future of food and agriculture through innovation.”

“With AgroStart, we are committed to collaboration in search of digital solutions that will help our customers better manage the growing complexity of modern agriculture,” said Mika Eberl, AgroStart lead for BASF Agricultural Solutions, North America. “We will do that by leveraging the talent, creativity, and passion of some of the brightest minds in agriculture and beyond, including our own employees.”

SVG Ventures Thrive is excited to join forces leveraging its ecosystem and innovation platform to help BASF discover and elevate digital solutions.