Agribotix

Founded in 2013 by Dr. Tom McKinnon in Boulder, Colorado, Agribotix LLC operated as a drone-enabled software company focused on precision agriculture. The company's genesis traces back to a project for the Denver Zoo, where the founders developed a large quadcopter to observe wildlife, sparking the idea to apply similar technology to farming.

Agribotix provided agricultural intelligence aimed at helping farmers increase yields and profitability. The core of its offering was the FarmLens platform, a cloud-based data analysis and reporting solution. Clients, which included farmers and agricultural service providers, could use their own drones or turnkey systems offered by the company, such as the Agribotix Hornet Drone. Drone-captured data, using near-infrared and thermal sensors, was uploaded to FarmLens for processing. The platform then generated actionable reports, including georeferenced aerial images, field health maps, and stand count reports, which helped identify problem areas and optimize the application of fertilizers and other inputs.

The business model centered on providing this data processing and analysis as a service. The company offered a "Bring Your Own Drone™" service, allowing anyone with a drone to use their cloud platform for agricultural data analysis, and also provided complete, integrated drone and software packages. This approach enabled clients worldwide to turn raw aerial data into valuable insights for crop management. By the time of its acquisition, the FarmLens platform had processed over 1.3 million acres of crops across 50 countries.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American: UAVS), which was completed on August 28, 2018. The acquisition was a strategic move for AgEagle to integrate the FarmLens data analytics platform into its service offerings, enhancing its capabilities in sustainable agriculture by providing tools to improve soil health and reduce water and chemical use.

Keywords: precision agriculture, agricultural intelligence, drone data analysis, FarmLens, crop monitoring, agricultural drones, aerial imaging, farm data management, crop health mapping, Tom McKinnon, AgEagle, sustainable farming, variable rate application, agricultural software, drone-enabled technologies, cloud data processing, stand count analysis, agricultural analytics, remote sensing, agronomy