SILICON VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, Inc. (Yamaha Motor Ventures), the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 7272), today announced it led a $11 million AUD initial funding round for The Yield Technology Solutions Ltd. (The Yield), an award-winning Australian ag tech company transforming farming practices for irrigation-intensive crops with scalable digital technology solutions. Leveraging the USD $100 million Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, The Yield investment represents a strategic focus to support the application of data-driven solutions to the entire food supply chain in Yamaha Motor Ventures’ portfolio of ag tech enterprises.
“Our strategic investment approach to the global agriculture sector, centered on precision solutions and hyperlocal management of crops, led us to The Yield and its impressive ability to deliver actionable agronomic insights to the specialty crop industry,” said Nolan Paul, Partner and Global Ag Tech Lead for Yamaha Motor Ventures. “The Yield collaborates closely with sophisticated growers to drive clear ROI across a range of high-value crops. This investment opportunity is a key synergistic addition to the Yamaha Motor Ventures portfolio.”
The $11 million AUD funding round led by Yamaha Motor Ventures also included participation from the Bosch Group.
The Yield’s Sensing+ platform supplies in-field microclimate data to the company’s proprietary AI modeling application, delivering predictive insights to large commercial growers to help manage critical production decisions around irrigation, feeding, planting, protection, and harvest.
“With so much activity in the ag tech market, we’re delighted to be identified and valued by a specialty crops domain expert like Yamaha Motor Ventures,” said Ros Harvey, founder and managing director of The Yield. “Our technology is poised to make a significant impact on the productivity and profitability of corporate growers, beginning with those here in Australia and New Zealand.”
About The Yield Technology Solutions
Based in Sydney, The Yield is a highly awarded Australian agricultural technology company on a mission to transform food and farming practices with scalable digital technology. Selected as a 2020 THRIVE Top 50 Scaling and Visionary AgTech Company, The Yield uses Internet of Things (IoT), data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to power its technology to solve real challenges at farm level and throughout the food chain. www.theyield.com
About Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley
Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley, Inc. (Yamaha Motor Ventures) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. (YMC). Founded in 2015 in support of YMC’s long-term goal to contribute to society through business, Yamaha Motor Ventures manages the Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, a USD $100 million investment fund with a 10-year lifecycle focused on seed to Series B investments. Headquartered in the home of innovation, Silicon Valley, Calif., Yamaha Motor Ventures offers a wealth of business development resources to startup companies to drive innovation forward in the fields of mobility, sustainability, robotics, food and agriculture, health and wellness, and aviation.
For more information visit www.ymvsv.com.
