Blue Radix, a specialist and market leader in autonomous growing solutions for greenhouses, has secured an additional €5 million investment from Navus Ventures and Horticoop.
This funding will drive the company’s commercial expansion. Blue Radix’s Crop Controller, already in use at nearly 100 greenhouses worldwide, has consistently demonstrated its ability to enhance yields and energy efficiency, providing growers with impressive annual returns of up to ten times their initial investment. The proven value of Blue Radix’s technology for its customers is creating strong momentum to scale its commercial operations further.
Horticoop actively invests on behalf of 300 greenhouse companies that positively contribute to the horticultural sector. Blue Radix’s autonomous growing solution enables growers to increase yield and energy savings and is, therefore, entirely in line with Horticoop’s ambition. Patrick Groeneveld, CEO of Horticoop: “Blue Radix is a proven leader in applied artificial intelligence in the horticultural sector. As the world’s population grows, so does the demand for healthy and safe food.
However, the greenhouse horticulture industry faces challenges due to the rising cost of energy and fertilisers, the need for yield improvement and the increasing shortage of crop expertise. Blue Radix addresses this complexity and these global challenges by empowering growers with algorithm-based solutions that run like they are tailor-made. We are therefore delighted with this second investment, which characterises the essence of our cooperative: investing in the future of the horticultural sector.”
Changing the game
“We see greenhouse technology as a key driver of efficient and sustainable food production,” says Eduard Meijer, director of Navus Ventures. From the beginning, almost five years ago, the philosophy of Blue Radix has been to go beyond insights, graphs and tables. With their Autonomous Climate & Irrigation Control, Blue Radix is changing the game, with the grower in complete control. With their proven track record, we’re pleased to provide financial support to the company again and help them with our knowledge and network to make a global impact on sustainable food production and energy management.”
Award-winning solution
Blue Radix’s award-winning Crop Controller offers Autonomous Climate and Irrigation Control for mid- and high-tech greenhouses in every climate. Additionally, the integrated Strategy Optimizer module helps growers improve their crop strategy with scenarios that enable the realisation of a more predictable yield.
AI with a human touch
Crop Controller offers a combination of AI technology and personal service to the market. In this model, AI does most of the repetitive and complex work. Growers can rely on extensive support from human Autonomous Greenhouse Managers who know the art of growing and offer that extra pair of eyes to ensure optimal results and more peace of mind for growers.
Growing for the benefit of the industry
Ronald Hoek, CEO of Blue Radix, concludes: “We are very pleased with these additional investments by our partners Navus and Horticoop who support us irealisingng our mission. The investments underline their trust in our progress, impact and value. As from now we’ll speed up the growth of the team further and we invite anyone who matches our job vacancies and wants to contribute to our mission and become part of our international team, to get in touch.”
