Trendlines' agrifood fund invests in precision-irrigation firm Saturas

STARTUP incubator The Trendlines Group on Wednesday said it has invested an undisclosed sum in Saturas, an Israel-based company focused on precision irrigation-management systems for agriculture.

Founded in 2013, Saturas has developed a decision-support system for automatic irrigation, based on its miniature stem-water potential sensor.

The system measures water stress in plant tissues as an indication of the plants' water needs, thus enabling farmers to "plan the timing and quantity of irrigation exactly", Catalist-listed Trendlines said in a statement. 

"Precise irrigation influences water and energy conservation, as well as quantity and quality of fruit. With Saturas' system, farmers obtain continuous and reliable information remotely from the field without the need to make frequent trips to check the field manually," it  said. 

Nitza Kardish, chief executive officer (CEO) of Trendlines' agrifood fund, added: "One of the crucial goals of food production today is to increase crop yields without increasing inputs. Saturas offers farmers an accurate water-measurement system that contributes significantly to achieving this important target."

Saturas CEO, Anat Halgoa, said the investment enables further market and sales expansion, as well as development of the firm's production capabilities, following its commercial expansion into the US, Europe, South America and China.

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Saturas is now working to complete the full funding round by the end of the year, she added. 

This is Trendlines' agrifood fund's third investment to date, following its investment in Singapore urban insect farm startup, Insectta, and a US$1.6 million investment in seed-breeding technology firm, Equinom.