There is a massive problem in agriculture and the industry is ready for a solution.
The spray methods used in agriculture today are costly, time-consuming, and wasteful for farms — impacting the farmer’s bottom line — and can be harmful to the environment. Precision AI can help both the agriculture community and our planet. They are ready to seize the opportunity for change and see their solution take flight.
Precision AI is accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) through enhancing farming practices and creating the world’s first AI-powered drones for plant-level herbicide applications at a broad-acre scale. Specifically, their Precision Spray Drone System with ZeroDrift can detect weeds from crop in real time and target spray the weeds in a single pass. These drones achieve this feat by utilizing edge computing, which allows faster and more accurate onboard processing, removing the need for broadband internet and creating near instant identification at record speeds – 8x faster than the industry average, in fact.
This result creates more profitable, efficient and sustainable farms, improving food security and reducing negative impacts on the environment.
It’s no surprise that with these impressive results, Precision AI’s mission has resonated strongly with the agriculture community and made them a shining star in the agtech ecosystem.
Founded in 2018, Precision AI received early support and investment from Innovation Saskatchewan’s Agtech Growth Fund (AGF) and Cultivator’s SCALE program which were instrumental in their continued growth and success.
“Innovation Saskatchewan took a risk with Precision AI and it definitely paid off,” said Warren Bills, Head of Marketing and Commercialization at Precision AI. “Here we are a few years later making a difference, hiring people and building a team in Saskatchewan at [Innovation Place in Regina] and getting recognition on a global scale through companies like Bayer and John Deere.”
Precision AI is a great example of how these Saskatchewan programs, especially the AGF, work and what is possible. “We’re there to support companies through the most technically challenging stages of research and development so that they can realize the innovations of the future,” said Kevin Chung, Director, Innovation Investments and Programs at Innovation Saskatchewan. “We’re incredibly proud of Precision AI’s success and that we were able to support them from the beginning.”
Having received numerous awards in both the agricultural and tech space, including the 2022 Drone Technology of the Year at the AgTech Breakthrough Awards and the 2022 Rising Star of the Year at the Edge Computing Awards, raised over $20 million in seed funding, and partnered with Protein Industries Canada and others to advance AI spraying technology in Canada, Precision AI is primed for growth and already stretching beyond our provincial borders into the United States.
Recently, they were chosen for the prestigious John Deere 2023 Startup Collaborator and are excited about its potential to speed up their entry into the commercial market and for the unique collaboration opportunities with like-minded startups.
“It’s really quite an honour to have this opportunity with such a great company,” Bills said.
In the next five years, the Precision AI team is preparing for the Precision Spray Drone System to hit the market (anticipated in 2024) and continuing to focus on expanding their unique technology to additional industries, cropping systems and farms.
The future is sky high for Precision AI and they are truly an incredible Saskatchewan tech success story. “Precision AI was easily convinced to start up and headquarter in Saskatchewan. It didn’t take long for us to have relevant conversations about agtech with stakeholders and businesses and to gain cheerleaders – and that’s the true advantage,” said Daniel McCann, Founder and CEO of Precision AI. “We [stayed] true to our provincial and prairie roots because there’s a good thing going here.”
