Avrio Capital has invested in Intelia, an environment controller manufacturer and data collection company for the indoor animal agriculture industry.
Serving poultry, dairy, and hog farms, Intelia manufactures electronic controller devices to manage temperature, ventilation, and other environmental measures. At the same time, it’s collecting production data from the farm, analysing it in real time to help farmers take better decisions around farm management.
Intelia, which started operating in the agriculture sector, has worked in other industrial sectors during its 17-year existence, but it’s now focused on expanding its agricultural offering into other products.
“Agriculture is where we can really add value and truly help improve the outcome and results of our customers,” said Caroline Forest, CMO at the company. “While data management has been introduced into the crop sector, it has yet to make inroads in live protein production, which gives us a big opportunity.”
Forest would not disclose the size of the round, but added that Avrio was joined in the round by a mix of venture and institutional investors.
Avrio invested in Intelia out of its third fund, a $110 million growth equity vehicle that closed in February as the third largest agtech fund on record.
Intelia is one of four investments in Fund III so far; Avrio also announced this week it has invested in two food companies — Alasko and Cadcan Marketing & Sales — to accompany a previous investment in BioAmber, a sustainable chemicals company.
Alasko Foods specializes in the supply of branded and private label frozen fruits & vegetables, and Cadcan Marketing & Sales, which operates as CheeCha Puffs, is a gluten-free, and low-calorie snack foods company.
While neither are producing technology products, they are both leveraging technology to differentiate their offerings and disrupt the way the food chain operates today, according to Aki Georgacacos, senior managing director of Avrio, told AgFunderNews.
“Optimizing supply chains, minimizing food waste and enhancing overall preservation and quality of food is crucial in addressing global food security issues,” said Michael Vineberg, CEO of Alasko in a press release.
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