St. Louis-based agriculture technology startup Eiwa, which provides a data management platform used by agriculture companies, has expanded its technology through a multiyear licensing and distribution agreement.
Eiwa said it has inked a deal to license drone analytics technology from Indianapolis-based Intelinair, a venture-backed startup that uses aerial imaging to provide crop intelligence for growers. Financial terms of the licensing and distribution agreement were not disclosed.
“Through this agreement, Eiwa users in the United States and South America will be able to use our drone analytics not just in commercial farms, but also in research plot applications,” Intelinair Global Business Leader Orlando Saez said in a news release.
Eiwa, founded in 2014, initially began with a focus on providing data from drone imagery and has since expanded to provide a broader data management platform for customers. In 2021, Eiwa launched Vault, a software product designed to collect data from multiple sources and locations on farms to provide its users with the ability to generate insights and analysis. Eiwa said its technology is used by agriculture companies to manage their field operations, helping them speed up “the overall product development process.” Customers of Eiwa include agriculture firms Syngenta Group, GDM Seeds and Stine Seed Co.
Eiwa said the agreement with Intelinair will include licensing drone analytics of corn and soybean fields that can be used by research customers in the U.S. and South American to track early season corn and soybean fields.
“This marks an important new phase for Eiwa and its customers, as we open our analytics library to also offer analytics from the best providers in the industry,” said Carlos Hirsch, chief revenue officer of Eiwa. “Through this collaboration with Intelinair, we can provide our customers worldwide with a broader and more comprehensive drone analytic offering from a market leader directly from our Eiwa Vault platform. We hope this is only the beginning of a long and successful partnership.”
The new agreement follows Eiwa's closing earlier this year of a Series A funding round led by Champaign, Illinois-based Serra Ventures. Eiwa did not disclose the amount of the funding round, but a regulatory document it filed in March with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed the company has raised $1.6 million in equity financing. Hirsch previously told St. Louis Inno the funding would primarily be used to expand Ewa’s commercial team, with a focus on also bolstering its development staff.
While Eiwa has its headquarters in St. Louis at the Helix Center Biotech Incubator, most of Eiwa’s employees are based in Argentina, which is where the startup launched. Hirsch is based locally and held roles with Monsanto and St. Louis-based manufacturer Vi-Jon prior to joining Eiwa.
