Fast-growing US agricultural technology company TeleSense is ramping up its connections with the Australian grain storage market on several fronts, including appointing former GrainCorp boss Mark Palmquist to its board.
TeleSense provides hay and grain storage and freight operators with options to continuously monitor temperature and moisture levels and preserve grain quality,and has attracted recent backing from Australian alternative investment fund Artesian.
Artesian's funding was linked to its participation with GrainInnovate, a $50m venture capital fund it established with the Grains Research and Development Corporation to invest in startups to help farmer profitability and sustainability.
Other investors backing the technology include Rabobank's Food and Agri Innovation Fund; US agribusiness investor, Fulcrum Global Capital; New York-listed UPL Ltd, and US-Israeli venture capital outfit Mindset Ventures.
TeleSense established an Australian base last year, headed by former GrainCorp chief development officer Marcus Kennedy who worked with the big east coast grain logistics, processing and marketing business for four years until moving to his new job.
How it works
Its sensors, such as its long-life battery powered CellularSpear, use mobile phone signal technology to continuously gather information about storage conditions in grain sites and the location of grain in transit.
It uses algorithms to analyse the data to predict quality and automatically notify farmers or logistics network operators of any issues.
Telesense can monitor grain in silos, bunker piles, grain bags, railway wagons, warehouses and crates.
The company believed Australian growers and grain handlers were set to enjoy significant benefits from its technology as it beefs up local operations.
In particular, this season's large grain crop and wet harvest challenges were expected to be a good test for the technology given much more grain would require storage for longer than normal, with on-farm silos likely to be a big market for the business.
The California-based industrial Internet of Things (IoT) innovator appointed Mr Palmquist, the current managing director of Australian-listed United Malt Group, to its global board of directors this week.
Before working in the Australian grain industry his background was with big US co-operative energy, agronomy, grains and foods group CHS.
Mr Palmquist said TeleSense was bringing artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to the grain industry "to provide the data-driven, actionable insights needed to improve post-harvest grain management decisions that can have tremendous impact on supply chain economics".
Data-driven decision help
"The industry is striving to use data to drive decision automation, but it can be a costly and time-intensive endeavor," he said.
"TeleSense offers a practical, useful approach which delivers immediate value - making data-driven decisions readily available for the grain industry at large."
Also appointed to the TeleSense board was former Bunge chief executive officer Soren Wolck Schroder.
Both Mr Schroder and Mr Palmquist intend to share their extensive expertise and global grain network connections to actively support the company's aggressive growth plans.
Aussie expansion
Meanwhile, the latest capital injection will help accelerate the company's expansion in international markets including Australia.
TeleSense's Australian executive chairman Mr Kennedy, who previously worked closely with Mr Palmquist, welcomed the developments.
"Mark brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the grains sector, in Australia as well as the US and Europe," he said.
"The strategic importance of TeleSense's grain quality management capabilities in the current local Australian harvest conditions should not be underestimated."
Robert Williams at Artesian agreed TeleSense was well-positioned to deliver useful value to local growers with its suite of storage monitoring products.
According to Finistere Ventures co-founder Spencer Maughan and lead investor in the latest funding round, the technology would also help speed up the digitisation of the global food supply chain, where inefficiencies had been highlighted by this year's coronavirus pandemic.
"We believe TeleSense is a prime visionary in redefining how grain is stored, handled and traded," he said.
"Ultimately, it is creating a digital global supply chain that uses data to combat grain spoilage - making the supply chain more sustainable and saving companies billions of dollars in lost grain along the way."
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