Agrible, an Illinois startup that uses predictive analytics and data science to help farmers make smarter decisions about their crops, is being acquired by agriculture company Nutrien for $63 million.
Nutrien, a publicly traded Canadian fertilizer company, announced its plans to acquire Agrible on Monday. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
Founded in 2012, Agrible provides software to farmers that helps them detect disease threats, improve logistics planning and monitor their crops. The startup is based in Champaign and has raised more than $13 million. Its investors include Maumee Ventures, Flyover Capital, Serra Ventures and Archer Daniels Midland. Agrible has a total of 55 employees.
Customers of Agrible's real-time agriculture data include some of the largest food and beverage companies in the U.S., such as Frito Lay, General Mills, ADM and AB InBev, which announced a partnership with Agrible in 2017 to help the beer giant improve barley production.
"Agrible has ... developed an industry leading sustainable ag platform and solution, developed through strong partnerships with some of the world's most prominent food and beverage companies," Mike Frank, president of Nutrien Ag Solutions, said in a statement. "We are excited to welcome Agrible's talented team to Nutrien Ag Solutions' digital organization and to expand our presence into Champaign, Illinois."
The deal comes as M&A activity continues to heat up across Illinois' startup ecosystem. Other major local acquisitions in 2018 include Home Chef's $200 million sale to Kroger, Maestro Health's $155 million acquisition by AXA Group, and Learncore's $50 million sale to Showpad.
