All aboard to new opportunities; what CropX’s first Australian acquisition means for agrifood tech
In early-2023 CropX Technologies, a global developer of agronomic farm management solutions, had only a small number of remote employees in Australia. Now it has quadrupled in size and established an office location thanks to its recent acquisition of Green Brain, a prominent digital irrigation management solutions provider based in Adelaide, South Australia.
CropX technologies have been employed by vineyards in Tasmania. Image | CropX.
CropX will be heading to AgriFutures evokeAG. 2024, having been selected to exhibit in the inaugural Scaleup Station. The team is eager to unveil the recent acquisition with evokeAG. delegates in person.
“We are very excited to use this opportunity to announce this new partnership with Green Brain, and introduce our General Manager Dominic Skinner,” Eitan Dan, Managing Director of CropX New Zealand, said.
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“By the time we get to evokeAG. 2024 we will have a shared logo we can show, and we will be fully integrated to be able to support our customers in the best way possible.”
Green Brain has a particularly strong presence in high value, permanent crops such as avocados, that Eitan believes can benefit from CropX. Image | CropX
The bus tour that paved the way into Australia
Eitan kicked-off evokeAG. 2023 in productive style, boarding the Australian Market Immersion Tour facilitated by Callaghan Innovation – a trip he credits with planting CropX’s roots in Australia before participating in evokeAG.’s Startup Alley and Showcase.
“I started telling some South Australian consultants on the bus that we were looking for partnerships and they introduced me to Green Brain,” Eitan says.
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Fast forward to December 2023 and CropX had its first Australian acquisition.
With an experienced team and established customer base, CropX CEO Tomer Tzach, welcomed Green Brain into the CropX family.
“Green Brain’s expertise in irrigation optimisation is a perfect fit with our company’s DNA. Its prominence in the Australian market will allow CropX to reach a broader customer base and allow us to help Australian farms succeed,” he said.
Eitan Dan, Managing Director New Zealand, CropX.
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Green Brain has a particularly strong presence in high value, permanent crops such as grape, avocado, and almond, that Eitan said can benefit from the agronomic data and insights offered by the CropX agronomic farm management system.
New chapter as experience and talent merge
With almost 40 years behind them, Green Brain has provided customised irrigation management packages that connect third-party soil sensors and rain gauges to telemetry devices that link to an irrigation advice app.
CropX is on a mission to provide a seamless experience for customers, supporting existing services while expanding their options by offering CropX hardware and software; including soil sensors, telemetry, rain gauges, and the CropX agronomic farm management system.
The Green Brain team includes software developers, customer support, hardware technicians and executives who are now throwing their skills and talents into the existing CropX team.
CropX hardware and software includes soil sensors, telemetry, rain gauges, and the CropX agronomic farm management system.
Ahead of his evokeAG. 2024 appearance, Green Brain’s General Manager Dominic Skinner, said he’s keen to share the acquisition with the agrifood tech community.
“This is an exciting new chapter for Green Brain as we join CropX’s global team of farm-focused innovators. We are energised by the expertise that CropX brings to accelerating Green Brain’s development roadmap, opportunities to improve customer support, and to grow our impact in Australia and beyond,” he said
“The Green Brain brand is well-recognised in Australia and will become even more prominent as we bring CropX solutions to our customers.”
The CropX system synthesises data from soil to sky on an app capable of managing several farms and fields from one account. Image | CropX.
CropX doubling down on expansion across the ditch
CropX was founded in New Zealand in 2013 and moved to Israel in 2015 to draw from Israel’s deep history and expertise in water-efficient irrigation technologies. It’s a company that’s been moving its way through the acquisition ranks, including:
- CropMetrics in early 2020, a precision irrigation company in Nebraska, United States.
- Regen in late-2020, a New Zealand precision irrigation company.
- Dacom Farm Intelligence in 2021, a precision agriculture company based in the Netherlands.
- And now Green Brain, an Australian provider of digital agronomy solutions for almost 40 years.
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The Green Brain acquisition comes at the same time CropX signed another significant contract. Summit Fertilisers will now utilise CropX for customers using fertilisers in dryland farming. The team has also just opened a local entity in Victoria and has a project with Agriculture Victoria underway.
And they’re not slowing down anytime soon. Eitan has his eye firmly on the prize – and that includes leaving evokeAG. 2024 with another acquisition in the works.
“The number one priority for us is finding another opportunity in Australia, similar to Green Brain, where you get a company with a very stable customer base but basic technology that CropX can offer a lot to,” he said.
Are you joining us from New Zealand? Join Eitan the week before evokeAG. 2024 on the Western Australia Market Immersion hosted by Callaghan Innovation from 14-19 February 2024. Book your ticket here. Explore the full evokeAG. program and more information about the sideline events at evokeag.com/2024-program.
For more information about evokeAG. 2024, and to purchase tickets, visit: evokeag.com/2024. If you’re a startup interested in attending, please contact [email protected] for a discount code. AgriFutures Australia is encouraging delegates to secure their tickets, flights, and accommodation now to avoid disappointment.