Today Spotta, a smart pest systems startup, has closed a €1 million seed funding round. Representatives of Cambridge Angels and REMUS, a US-based VC firm, will join Spotta’s board as part of the investment deal. Other major investors include Martlet Capital, Wren Capital, and the Angel CoFund.
The financing round reflects Spotta’s huge potential to solve the €345 billion problem of insect pests while dramatically reducing pesticide use.
Founded in 2018, Spotta commercialised its first product in 2019. Its ‘Bed Pods’ technology, which can be put in each room, automatically identify and quantify pest infestations, even at very low populations. The solution is particularly useful for the hospitality industry, allowing hotels and other establishments to pre-empt and minimise the damage bugs can cause to guests, maintaining reputation and earnings.
The startup was recognised by the US-based Fast Company magazine as one of the AI and Data World Changing Ideas for 2020, and the UK Cleaning Services and Support Association (CSSA) also nominated Spotta as a finalist in the Innovation Showcase 2020. In addition to its Bed Pod product which monitors bed bugs in hotels and other multi-room accommodation offerings, Spotta is working with a major forest management organisation to develop an outdoor pest monitoring solution, and anticipates its technology being used in other applications including insect monitoring to help boost yields in agriculture.
Building from this highly successful launch, Spotta will use the new funding to continue hiring top talent, launch two new products, and enter into new international markets beyond its current presence in the UK, the US and Europe. Spotta aims to grow rapidly to support this expansion and continue its innovative use of AI and Internet of Things to offer an accessible technological solution for pest detection.
Robert Fryers, CEO at Spotta, states: “For decades, pest management has been held back by laborious, error-prone manual monitoring. With our technology it is finally possible to change this and help industries around the world to make a step change from reactive to proactive management of pests. This will save billions and massively reduce the amount of pesticide used globally. We’re delighted to have strong support from a wide group of investors who share our vision. This funding will allow us to scale up our commercial operations and continue to address the £320 billion global problem of insect pests.”
Paul Anson, lead investor from the Cambridge Angels says: “Throughout its initial market roll-out with the Bed Pod, Spotta has proven that its pest detection and identification technology has real-world capabilities and delivers customer value in a global marketplace. This was a very strong follow-on round and that speaks to the capability of the management team and their execution success. We look forward to supporting Spotta as it continues on its commercial journey.”
via https://www.AiUpNow.com/ by contact@bcurdy.com, Khareem Sudlow
