Granular Inc.

Granular Inc. is a San Francisco-based agricultural software development company focused on helping farmers be more profitable and efficient.[2][3] The company's software products provide farmers tools to manage their financial performance and manage agronomic inputs for maximum performance and return.[4][5][6] In addition to digital tools for farmers, Granular also owns AgStudio, a precision ag software company used primarily by ag retailers and professional agronomists, as well as AcreValue, a website that uses proprietary algorithms to provide estimated land values.[7][8]

Granular Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryAgriculture
PredecessorSolum[1]
Founded2014 (2014)
FoundersSid Gorham, Mike Preiner
Headquarters
San Francisco
Key people
Rajan Gajaria
ProductsSoftware
ParentCorteva Agriscience
Websitewww.granular.ag

History

Granular is a spinoff of the company Solum, which was founded in 2009. In 2014, Monsanto acquired half of the business, which focused on soil testing and was merged with Climate Corp. The remaining half of the company was spun-off into Granular.[9] After the split, Granular raised $4.2 million in Series A round funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and Google Ventures.[10] In April 2015, Granular acquired the farmland valuation platform, AcreValue, for an undisclosed amount.[11]

In July 2015, the company raised an additional $18.7 million in a Series B round of funding led by Tao Capital, with additional funding from previous backers.[1][2] The company opened a regional headquarters at the University of Illinois Research Park in Champaign, Illinois, in November 2015.[12] In September 2017, Granular was acquired by DowDuPont, which became Corteva on June 6, 2019.[13] CEO and Founder Sid Gorham was named director of digital solutions for Corteva and also maintains his title as Granular CEO. The company operates as an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Corteva, and maintains offices in Johnston, Iowa, and Cumming, Georgia, as well as their Illinois and San Francisco offices.

Operations

Granular Business software allows farmers to track the profitability of their farms. The platform tracks input and crop inventories, and integrates with data collected from a wide range of farming equipment.[4] The company's smartphone application allows workers to access work orders, schedules and other information in the field.[14][15]

Through the 2015 acquisition of AcreValue, Granular allows users the ability to track and compare farmland values. The platform compiles public data sources and other factors, including soil, climate, geography and crop history to provide users with a custom land value report.[11][16] In early 2019, AcreValue partnered with Land Brokers Institute to list new farmland listings on the site across all 48 contiguous U.S. states.[17] As part of their agreement with DowDuPont, Granular assumed control of DowDuPont's digital agronomic software offering called Encirca, which provides farmers recommendations on variable rate seeding, fertility and nitrogen. Encirca field service agents also consult with growers throughout the growing season.[18] MapShots AgStudio, a precision ag software primarily used by ag retailers and agronomists, also became part of Granular in 2017 as part of the company's acquisition by DowDuPont.

References
  1. Fehrenbacher, Katie (July 22, 2015). "Silicon Valley Startups Go Farming". Fortune. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. Magee, Christine (July 22, 2015). "Granular Rakes In $18.7 Million to Manage Big Farms". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  3. Kesmodel, David; Newman, Jesse (August 4, 2015). "Farmland Investments Take Root". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  4. Burwood-Taylor, Louisa (July 23, 2015). "Why Uber-Backer Tao Capital Invested in Granular Alongside Andreessen and Khosla". AG Funder News. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  5. Bunge, Jacob (August 31, 2015). "On The Farm: Startups Put Data in Farmers' Hand". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  6. Mims, Christopher (August 9, 2015). "To Feed Billions, Farms Are About Data as Much as Dirt". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  7. Somerville, Heather (July 22, 2015). "VC Report: Flipboard Seeking to Raise $50 Million; AG Tech Gets Another Boost From Google". Silicon Beat. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  8. Davis, John (April 24, 2015). "Granular Acquires AcreValue". AgWired. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  9. Steever, Tom (August 11, 2015). "Granular Provides Cloud Computing, Mobile Apps to Farmers". Brownfield. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  10. Fehrenbacher, Katie (February 20, 2014). "Granular: Bringing Farms Into the Modern Software World". Gigaom. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  11. Cendese, Alexander (April 22, 2015). "Granular Acquires Farmland Valuation Platform AcreValue". AG Funder News. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  12. Mitchell, Tim (November 15, 2015). "It's Your Business:Shipping Business Opens in Urbana". The News-Gazette. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  13. "DuPont Acquires Ag Software Company Granular to Accelerate Digital Ag Strategy and Help Farmers Operate More Profitable Businesses | DuPont USA". www.dupont.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  14. Vogt, Willie (April 27, 2016). "Putting Data to Work - Part 2". Farm Industry News. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  15. Johnson, Andrea (December 15, 2015). "Computing Power Offers Access to Land Value Information". Minnesota Farm Guide. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  16. Grassi, Matthew (October 27, 2015). "Granular Expands AcreValue Farmland Analysis Site". Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  17. "U.S. Land Broker Cooperative and AcreValue Team Up to Expand Land Listings Coverage". www.klkntv.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  18. "Encirca". www.pioneer.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
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