Weather network and analytics company Understory acquired $7.5 million in additional funding led by 4490 Ventures, as well as new investor Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the DC-based investment firm founded by former chief executive officer of AOL, Steve Case. Funds will be leveraged to expand Understory’s presence in the international agriculture market.
Understory’s international presence began through a South American weather station deployment partnership with Monsanto (now Bayer) to measure rainfall, temperature, humidity, evapotranspiration (moisture leaving plants), and growing degree units (studying a plant’s lifecycle to determine the best harvesting time), to inform decisions around irrigation, harvest dates and times, and seed production. According to the company, Understory deployed 500 stations throughout five U.S. major metropolitan areas and plans to expand nationally to 5,000 sensors in 2019.