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The world’s population is set to grow to 8.5 billion people by 2030 and one resounding question is how we are going to feed everyone. While food supply chain issues have become glaringly apparent since the onset of the pandemic, pests represent another major challenge threatening food safety and availability for the masses.
Pests destroy 30% of all food grown from agriculture to processing every year. Pest management in food and other manufacturing facilities has been largely carried out through fumigation when the problem reaches a certain threshold. However, this is expensive, bad for the environment, and the standards for food safety have increased. Food and other high-hygiene facilities need a way to prevent pest infestations before they get out of control.
That said, we are thrilled to announce our investment in Extrasense Technologies, a leading image recognition platform for the pest control industry. Extransense's software platform solves current pest control problems through A.I.-powered automated pest identification, remote monitoring, and root cause analysis that drive early corrective actions. Founded in 2019 by Oliver Sanchez and Greg Santos, Extrasense is aiming to transform the $20 billion pest management industry by utilizing a SaaS platform that records and analyzes pest information from sensors, mobile apps, and technician reports to provide prescriptive and predictive data on pests. Extrasense will use this financing round to complete pilot tests in collaboration with strategic partners and expand their product feature set.
Why did Branch Venture Group Invest in Extrasense Technologies?
Extrasense stood out to the Branch Venture Group team as an exciting investment for three key reasons:
Reason 1: Unique Product Offering with Strong IP and First Mover Advantage
The Extrasense offering is unlike anything currently available on the market, leading to strong initial interest from strategic partners and corporate customers to further develop their core technology. Extrasense’s technology is unique because it uses artificial intelligence to automatically identify pests. The system solves technical challenges such as the ability to identify small insects in images, no pest images or unknown pests, and the AI is combined with other field data to improve overall accuracy. With this technology, the Extrasense system can achieve over 98% accuracy identifying multiple insect species with field quality images.
Extrasense’s technology allows food manufacturers to keep their operation safe from pests with real time monitoring by empowering employees to report pest sightings through their AI powered app; connect and collect data from any other smart traps on the factory floor; and identify and get alerts for pest species ahead of time so their technicians are prepared. Customers can diagnose issues and pest activity with real time visualizations, analyze historical data and prepare for external audits and prioritize corrective actions.
Reason 2: Strong Regulatory Tailwinds are Increasing the Need for New Digital Based Pest Control Options
Extrasense’s solution was built for large scale production and manufacturing facilities with high hygiene and pest control standards. Food processing facilities are required by the FDA and USDA to have stringent monitoring of pests. Health and medical facilities have low thresholds for pest infestations and pesticide use is limited. Finally indoor farms need real time information on pests and crop health. Failures in pest management ultimately present a very high and asymmetric business risk: the cost of a plant shut down or food recalls for pest infestation far exceeds the cost of pest management.
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) signed into law in 2011 and finalized by the FDA in 2015 overhauled regulations regarding food production and safety. Failure to comply can ultimately lead to health risks such as disease outbreak and financial risks such as reputational damage, loss of market share and competitive advantage. Extrasense helps facilities maintain compliance by identifying current problems and preventing future infestations from occurring.
Extrasense PestID Location Dashboard
Reason 3: Strong Management Team and Advisory Board
Oliver and Greg are both experienced entrepreneurs with prior startup and deep tech expertise. Oliver completed his MBA at Boston University and previously was the CEO of Plug Cambridge, a boutique coworking innovation space, which was acquired by Rent24. Greg completed his JD at Boston University and has spent time as an engaged advisor and attorney to high-tech and emerging companies. Oliver and Greg are complimented by a strong entomology team with insect taxonomy and identification experience.
Oliver and Greg have also assembled a team of advisors with expertise in business, entomology, and artificial intelligence. Extrasense has attracted a well-known lead investor, L’Attitude Ventures, a purpose-led venture capital firm that invests in early stage, US Latino led and owned companies with high growth opportunities capturable through technology.
Want to Learn More about Extrasense?
At Branch Venture Group we’re always looking to connect our portfolio companies with strategic partners. If you are interested in connecting with the Extrasense team, please reach out to info@branchventuregroup.com. To learn more, check out the company website and Instagram pages and extending a huge congratulations to Oliver, Greg, and the team on their successful fundraise. We look forward to supporting their continued success!