Document: FarmLink raises additional $24.6M for ag tech
January 19, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Ag tech startups in Kansas City are plowing a promising 2016.
Kansas City-based FarmLink recently secured nearly $24.6 million in investment capital for its farming technology, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company offers a suite of tech services for farmers, including analytics platform TrueHarvest and machinery sharing platform MachineryLink Sharing.
TrueHarvest is a yield benchmark tool that helps farmers validate the impact of environmental variables to optimize production of crops. Through the MachineryLink platform, farmers can pay to use farm equipment when needed and also earn money for renting their equipment when it’s not in use. FarmLink says that lessees will have on-demand access to an inventory of equipment at varying costs, offering them enhanced flexibility, cash flow and revenue.
FarmLink has raised about $67.8 million in capital to date with OpenAir Equity Partners as its primary investor. Founded in 2010, the company has 80 employees and was co-founded by Ron LeMay, David Govert and David Forsee.
FarmLink’s most recent raise comes on the heels of another local ag tech success story. Farmobile announced in December that it raised $5.5 million in a Series A round from a large Amsterdam-based venture capital firm. Founded in 2013, Farmobile invented a device — or Passive Upload Connection (PUC) — that plugs into a tractor’s diagnostic port to collect a variety of farming data, such as info on planting, spraying, fertilization, harvest, fleet management and more.

2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
‘Those are fighting words’: Why Weston Bergmann won’t stop until ‘The Blox’ changes every challenger’s life
With the largest live-in startup competition now available on Amazon Prime Video, the stakes have never been higher and the potential never greater for “The Blox” — a show where the reality TV format is mined to turn entrepreneur education into entertainment. “The demand to be on the show has exponentially grown, and with it…
Team behind KC Current, CPKC Stadium honored as Entrepreneurs of the Year
Chris and Angie Long scored another big win Thursday — joining the roster of Kansas Citians honored as UMKC’s Entrepreneurs of the Year — amid an evening that celebrated the world of athletics and the leaders who make the KC sports scene shine. “We feel very proud that we have set a bar,” said Angie…
UMKC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year sees business potential in KC’s diverse futbol ecosystem
Lesly Romo couldn’t shake an idea bouncing around in her mind for the past few years: a venture she ultimately would call Golazo, a multi-faceted soccer facility that offers the world’s diverse forms of futbol all in one place. Recently named UMKC Student Entrepreneur of the Year, Romo first conceived the concept during her freshman…
InvestMidwest aims to turn connections into dollars; startups can apply to pitch now
Attending InvestMidwest as an audience member was so impactful for Nick Love that the Love Lifesciences co-founder hopes to pitch his own company when the startup-investor conference and showcase returns this spring to Kansas City — for the first time since 2019. “InvestMidwest allowed us to speak with investors, but was also structured such that…
