Dutch agri-data platform 30MHz raises 6.5 million euros

The Amsterdam scale-up 30Mhz, the leading data platform for the agricultural sector, has raised EUR 6.5 million in a second round of investment funding from Rubio Impact Ventures, Participatiefonds Duurzame Economie Noord-Holland, the Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund, SHIFT Invest II and the Goeie Grutten Impact Fund. The money will be used for the further growth of the company and to accelerate technological developments.

More effective, efficient and sustainable cultivation
Data platform 30MHz provides growers, farmers and horticulturists all over the world with insight into the climatic conditions of their crops. The platform interactively analyses a diversity of information derived from various data sources such as climate computers, sensors and manual input. By visualising the data and connecting farmers, growers, advisers, distributors and researchers within the platform, the scale-up contributes to the more effective, efficient and therefore also more sustainable cultivation of vegetables, plants and seeds.

Achieving global climate and sustainability goals
‘Our business model is aimed at enabling horticulture to achieve global climate and sustainability goals’, says Timo Spruijt, CCO of 30MHz. Through this new investment round, the scale-up aims to further expand its role as a connector in this process, as well as the technology of the data platform.

Spruijt: ‘Our focus is on facilitating a high-quality infrastructure and our strength lies in the reliability of the relevant data and its continuity. After all, our customers use our data to increase their yield at both crop and product level, reduce their losses, optimise irrigation, improve storage, prevent the risk of disease and reduce their energy consumption. This investment round underscores the importance of our role in this process.’

Unlocking agronomic knowledge
The second major investment round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures. The impact investor reports being particularly impressed by how the plug-and-play platform makes complex data and knowledge accessible regardless of a grower’s existing systems or level of digitalisation.

Tijl Hoefnagels, Rubio’s venture partner for Food & Agri: ‘The agronomic data that 30MHz offers growers (whether high or low-tech) worldwide in an easily accessible, affordable and remote manner is indispensable to the accelerated digitisation of the agricultural sector. Particularly the independence of the platform and the possibilities it affords growers for sharing their data with their own research partners particularly democratises outstanding knowledge that was not previously available to many growers worldwide. In a nutshell: 30MHz allows more growers to grow more with less.’

‘PDENH is very pleased to include 30MHz in its portfolio’, says the Fund’s director Bart Blokhuis. ‘With a strong management and a unique and scalable proposition, 30MHz is fully prepared to make not only a major commercial impact, but – at least as important – also an impact in the field of sustainability in the agri-food sector by facilitating the accessibility of as much data and as many insights to customers as possible.’

About 30MHz
30MHz is an Amsterdam-based scale-up that builds both hardware and software in collaboration with and for the benefit of the agricultural sector. We believe that technology and data will help organisations of all sizes to innovate with a view to enhancing their efficiency, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. The company was founded in 2014 by renowned experts in Amazon AWS and embedded software and experienced business managers. Today, the company employs a staff of over 35 and serves more than 330 customers in 30 countries. For more information: https://30mhz.com/ 

About Rubio Impact Ventures
Rubio Impact Ventures, formerly known as Social Impact Ventures, is a leading impact venture capital fund with 150 million euros in assets under management. Rubio invests in young, fast-growing companies that make a substantial global impact and realise this in a commercially scalable way; a future-proof form of entrepreneurship that Rubio calls ‘the new normal’. Rubio offers entrepreneurs the capital to grow and at the same time the expertise, network and support they seek to realise their plans and accelerate results. For more information, go to: https://www.rubio.vc. 

About the Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund 

The Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund (RFAIF), part of Rabo Investments, is a captive venture capital fund of Rabobank. With 125 million euros in assets under management, RFAIF invests in disruptive agri-food tech start-ups in Europe, the United States and Israel, supporting these fledgling companies with Rabobank’s extensive network and knowledge in these sectors. For more information: www.rfaif.com.

About SHIFT
SHIFT is a Dutch impact venture capital fund. SHIFT has been investing in sustainable start-ups since 2009. SHIFT Invest launched its third fund, SHIFT Invest III, in 2020. Together with the entrepreneurs of innovative start-ups and scale-ups, SHIFT aims to combat climate change and promote biodiversity with the overall aim of helping restore the balance between nature and society. SHIFT Invest II has been investing in 30MHz since 2019 and is also actively participating in this round. The SHIFT funds are managed by NBI Investors; NBI Investors has a total of 150 million euros in committed capital under management. For more information: www.shiftinvest.com

About PDENH 

Participatiefonds Duurzame Economie Noord-Holland (the Participation Fund for Sustainable Economy in Noord-Holland) is an investment fund for both established and fledgling companies and projects that focus on the energy transition, sustainable mobility and the circular economy and, in doing so, contribute to the sustainable economy in the province of Noord-Holland. The fund was set up and financed by the Province of Noord-Holland and is managed by StartGreen Capital and KplusV.

About the Goeie Grutten Impact Fund 

The Goeie Grutten Impact Fund is committed to a sustainable energy transition and the worldwide availability of responsible, healthy and varied food. Since its establishment in 2015, the Goeie Grutten Impact Fund has made both direct and fund-in-fund investments in the field of responsible, healthy and varied nutrition and in the energy transition. Visit www.goeie-grutten.nl for more information.

For further information and to schedule an interview, please contact:

Marloes van Kooten| Senior Marketer| 06-2840 9907 | marloes@30mhz.com