Swiss corporation Syngenta, producing agricultural products for seeds and plant protection, acquired the Ukrainian IT company Cropio.
What Cropio does
Cropio is developing the same-name agrotechnological platform for remote monitoring of the land, including monitoring through a satellite.
A full package of services is sold by subscription, for about $3/hectare. Cropio operates in 50 countries, but the company’s main focus is Eastern Europe. Currently, an area of about 10 million hectares is managed using the platform.
Value and details
The parties did not disclose the deal value. Under the terms of the agreement, Cropio remains a standalone company.
According to the Agroinvestor portal, citing an industry expert, the annual revenue of the project can be about $7.5 million, and EBITDA – up to $2 million. The further evaluation depends on the multiplier, which the parties agreed to, however, the expert estimates the purchase at $15-20 million. Other surveyed representatives of the industry say about a higher price up to $50 million.
According to Crunchbase, Cropio was founded in 2011. The company is headquartered in Cyprus, but the development staff is Ukrainians. In total, the company has 35 employees.
Syngenta notes that it has covered all key markets with its digital platforms: Land.db in the USA, Strider in Brazil, Modern Agricultural Platform in China, and Cropio in Eastern Europe.
This is not the first Syngenta IT investment in Ukraine. Previously, the company launched the “Digital Innovation Laboratory” at UNIT.City.
