📋 Tender Overview
SistemaVC sold its share in Observe Technologies to Norwegian AKVA Group with x4 of return on investment. The startup utilizes computer vision to optimize feeding process in fish farms.SistemaVC made its initial investment into Observe Technologies in 2017 during the seed round. AI-based products in specific industries are the firms main competency and the VCs investment interest. The companies met in 2016 during a demo-day of the British startup accelerator Entrepreneur First where Observe Technologies introduced its project to investors.Iskander Giniyatullin Partner at SistemaVC says We decided to invest in the company because we liked their product applied AI for one of the promising industries which is farming and aquaculture. The founders education and experience also played an important role. We think that an engineer and entrepreneur make a perfect tandem. Such a team composition usually means that the business idea has every opportunity to become a reality. We invested into the startup at a very early stage and we werent wrong to do so the return on investment was x4.Based on the evaluation made by Allied Market Researchs analysts in 2019 the aquaculture and fishing industry amounted to 285 billion and will grow to 378 billion by 2027.For SistemaVC this was the first investment in the agro-technologies segment. The expertise gained through working with Observe Technologies later allowed the VC to include into its portfolio other tech companies that specialize in using AI in conservative agriculture. These are Connecterra a company that develops an AI assistant for dairy farms and KisanHub a cloud platform that helps optimize agriculture supply chains.The Observe Technologies solution uses underwater cameras computer vision and various sensors allowing to determine the optimal amount of feed and adjusting its consumption taking into account the state of the environment and the fish themselves. The startups product is currently used in Great Britain Chile Canada Norway and Australia. You can observe your farm using the Observe Technologies solution in a browser from any part of the world.Observe Technologies was founded by Hemang Rishi and Pieter Fabry in 2016. Ivan Makeev became one of the teams key members he managed AI development.The Norwegian corporation AKVA Group with offices in ten countries and annual revenue of 360 million specializes in supplying equipment technologies and services for companies operating in the aquaculture market. In February of 2019 AKVA Group and Observe Technologies agreed upon a partnership to introduce the new AI technology to the market. Today AKVA Group is a strategic investor in Observe Technologies they bought out part of other investors shares and invested additional funds into the company. Observe Technologies founders remain with the controlling interest. A strategic investor like AKVA Group can help the company increase its share of the market.
