3 ms·

So who's actually hiring for agtech computer vision in 2023? Would love to get into the space in theory and i have a deep relevant background, just wondering if

So who's actually hiring for agtech computer vision in 2023? Would love to get into the space in theory and i have a deep relevant background, just wondering if the industry is getting close to generating some real impact in agriculture.

Kon-Peki 4y ago
I may be completely wrong, but look for companies at such and such university research park. I think that progress is mostly going to come from spin outs at universities all over the place, especially the ones that have strong engineering and agriculture components. These are the places where research has always been done and have always been partnering with commercial entities for R&D. The Bay Area VC approach is not likely to capture this market. You know, UC Davis, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Illinois, etc. Last year I was in Minneapolis for unrelated reasons. I like visiting museums and things when I have free time in random cities. I went to the state of Minnesota’s natural history museum (in a really nice brand-new building), which is on the edge of the UMN Twin Cities campus surrounded by agriculture test fields. I sat there and watched what appeared to be custom made drones flying around swooping low going from one spot to the next without anyone obviously in control.
a_bonobo 4y ago
There's quite a few startups in this space that use computer vision to some degree, I'm aware of Bilberry which uses their own cameras to get on-field images, segment into invasive/non-invasive and spot-sprays from there. https://bilberry.io/careers/ https://bilberry.io/careers/ There's also FarmWise, which is a bit bigger than BilBerry, they have a mechanical weeder (I guess the AI is similar!) Funny enough they both sit in Paris, not in the US, which is why you may not have heard about that - the startup hype press seems to be very insular/US-focused.

Kon-Peki 4y ago

I may be completely wrong, but look for companies at such and such university research park. I think that progress is mostly going to come from spin outs at universities all over the place, especially the ones that have strong engineering and agriculture components. These are the places where research has always been done and have always been partnering with commercial entities for R&D. The Bay Area VC approach is not likely to capture this market. You know, UC Davis, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, Illinois, etc. Last year I was in Minneapolis for unrelated reasons. I like visiting museums and things when I have free time in random cities. I went to the state of Minnesota’s natural history museum (in a really nice brand-new building), which is on the edge of the UMN Twin Cities campus surrounded by agriculture test fields. I sat there and watched what appeared to be custom made drones flying around swooping low going from one spot to the next without anyone obviously in control.

a_bonobo 4y ago

There's quite a few startups in this space that use computer vision to some degree, I'm aware of Bilberry which uses their own cameras to get on-field images, segment into invasive/non-invasive and spot-sprays from there. https://bilberry.io/careers/ https://bilberry.io/careers/ There's also FarmWise, which is a bit bigger than BilBerry, they have a mechanical weeder (I guess the AI is similar!) Funny enough they both sit in Paris, not in the US, which is why you may not have heard about that - the startup hype press seems to be very insular/US-focused.