Company will accelerate vision for a more efficient, traceable, and compliant agricultural economy with investment and new board members
PRESS RELEASE – NEW YORK, NY – May 22, 2019 – Artemis (formerly Agrilyst), the leading enterprise Cultivation Management Platform (CMP), today announced it has closed a $8 million Series A funding round co-led by Astanor Ventures and Talis Capital with participation from existing investors New York State’s Empire State Development Fund and iSelect Fund. The company has raised $11.75m to date and will use the new funding to rapidly scale sales and expand its team across product, engineering, sales and marketing.
In addition to the new funding, the company announced it has changed its name to Artemis as part of its current rebranding initiative, which will include a new website and corporate branding in June. The company also appointed Dr. Kathleen Merrigan and Charlie O’Donnell to its Board of Directors. Merrigan is the former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture under President Obama and is the first Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. O’Donnell is the sole Partner and Founder at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and led the company’s seed round of financing.
“We started Artemis with a mission to help indoor farmers and greenhouse operators better manage their operations,” said Allison Kopf, founder and CEO. “This investment coupled with the guidance and deep expertise of Kathleen and Charlie will take our vision, product, and service to the next level—accelerating our ability to enable enterprise-level horticulture businesses to profit and grow.”
Artemis’ proprietary CMP enables owners and managers of large-scale horticulture facilities to reduce risk, scale operations, ensure compliance, manage workers, and achieve greater efficiency and profitability across the entire supply chain—from cultivation to sales. Artemis’ integrated solution provides a single pane view of operations, allowing users to track workflows, detect and trace food safety issues, and manage facility production and labor costs.
“Technology innovation is rapidly transforming the agriculture sector. Artemis’ approach to using data as a catalyst for growth and risk management provides the company a significant advantage with enterprise-level horticulture operations,” said Kathleen Merrigan, venture partner at Astanor Ventures and new Artemis board member.
“The Artemis team has built an incredible solution that’s already captured the attention of some of the largest farming companies in the world. There is a clear opportunity in the agtech space with these types of innovators. We look forward to being part of Artemis’ next phase of growth as they extend their leadership position in the space,” said Matus Maar, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Talis Capital.
Artemis is a trusted partner to some of the world’s largest farming companies. Since launching in 2015, it has seen strong customer growth with companies worth a collective $5 billion using the platform daily. Artemis has attracted a wide range of users that are foremost interested in the security, compliance, profitability, and potential to expand their operations. The company has also partnered with others in the agtech ecosystem, enabling users to further reduce risk across all areas of their business.
“As someone who first met Allison and learned about Artemis when it was just a concept, it’s been exciting to watch it grow from founding to an award-winning company and product that’s well positioned to play a significant role in the future of food production and safety at a massive scale,” said Charlie O’Donnell, Founder and General Partner at Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and new Artemis board member.
About Artemis
Founded in 2015, Artemis provides a world-class Cultivation Management Platform that enables owners and managers of enterprise horticulture facilities to drive efficiency, profits, and growth while ensuring security and regulatory compliance. With Artemis, users can manage workflow and daily tasks, register crop batches, trace food safety issues, manage workers, and leverage data insights to increase workforce efficiency and crop productivity. The platform integrates easily with other software for climate control, shipping/logistics, accounting, ERP/MRP, CRM, and Point of Sale Commerce. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. For more information visit www.artemisag.com.
About Astanor Ventures
Impact investor Astanor Ventures brings together capital, deep sector expertise and a long track record of leveraging disruptive technologies to bring about a future of food that is nourishing, regenerative, trusted and ultra-fresh. Founded by individuals who have backed some of Europe’s most successful startups, Astanor Ventures helps ambitious, purpose-aligned founders build global companies in the sustainable agri-food sector. For more information visit www.astanor.com
About Talis Capital
Talis Capital is a venture capital investment firm that takes smart money from some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and business people and invests it strategically in early stage technology companies with global potential. Talis has invested over $500m worth of transactions since 2009 and the portfolio includes Darktrace, Onfido, iwoca, Pirate Studios, Luminance, Ynsect and Oh My Green. Focused on building long-term partnerships, Talis leverages its network to give some of the world’s most innovative startups opportunity to thrive. For more see www.taliscapital.com.
