Agworld in $100m sale

Perth-based farm management system Agworld has been bought by Canadian firm Semios for $100 million.

Founded in 2009, Agworld assists farmers track and share field data with other growers as well as advisers to inform farming and operational decision-making.

Semios, based in Vancouver, provides real-time crop data and pest management tools for farmers who grow tree fruit, nuts, and other permanent crops.

Combining the technology of both companies would provide a full-cycle crop management ecosystem, enabling growers and service providers to collaborate using one dashboard to manage crops.

Semios chief executive Michael Gilbert said the acquisition would simplify crop management systems for farmers.

“Agworld and Semios offer farmers complementary solutions that are helping growers manage risk and optimise yields, more sustainably,” Dr Gilbert said.

“For our customers, it will be business as usual.

“The true impact of our combined forces in the global agricultural industry will soon be realised through the increased velocity of our R&D efforts and getting new products to market, benefitting growers who are being tested by mother nature like never before.”

Agworld chief executive Doug Fitch said farmers had been asking for a combined solution to manage their crops.

“The availability of important data to growers and their stakeholders for real-time decision-making through one platform is key to improving the sustainable performance of farming operations,” Mr Fitch said.

In a statement, Semios said the combined group would form one of the world’s largest independent agtech companies servicing customers in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Europe, and South Africa.