Carrot Ventures is excited to introduce Cellar Insights. It is the second AgTech business to emerge through Carrot’s company formation platform.

Cellar Insights is a Canadian AgTech firm that uses sophisticated sensors and cloud-based algorithms to remotely monitor the health of potatoes in long-term storage. The system incorporates predictive algorithms and provides management with insights to maximize returns.

Millions of potatoes are stored in enormous climate-controlled buildings for up to 11 months. Farmers face an increased risk of loss due to shrinkage, quality reductions, disease, sprouting, or rotting during such long storage durations.

“We’re extremely pleased to be launching Cellar Insights. Reducing food loss and optimizing the quality of crops post-harvest is an issue of worldwide importance. Potatoes are the world’s third most important food crop, produced in over 100 countries. It is an essential and nutritious food staple, which has led to soaring cultivation rates in India and China. In North America, production value exceeds USD4bn annually, with retail sales approaching USD14bn. Unfortunately, potatoes and other root crops – such as carrots and onions – experience significant losses during storage. Effective storage management practices are vital, and we believe Cellar Insights offers a compelling solution,” Martin Vetter, a venture partner with Carrot, mentioned.

Potato preservation procedures vary greatly in sophistication around the world, with losses ranging from 10% to 25%. Cellar Insights’ mission is to provide farmers with a dependable solution for remotely monitoring and controlling the health and value of their stored root crops.

Cellar Insights will begin its commercialization journey right away, including recruiting farmers and potato processors to participate in field testing this year.