Farmbox, a farm management startup, sees a 32% increase in revenue in 2020

The pandemic accelerated digitalization in the countryside and even in a very atypical year, digital agriculture startups showed good growth. Farmbox, rural property management software, had a 40% increase in revenue from new sales and a 35% increase in the active customer base – 32% in total gross income. This expansion was also the result of the increase in monitored hectares, which increased from 1,2 million to 2 million hectares.

According to the CEO of Checkplant, developer of Farmbox, André Guerreiro Cantarelli, the growth that 2020 brought is the result of the work that the entire team has been developing, despite the challenges that the year imposed. “We evolved as a product and took on new paths that went beyond the borders of our country. All of this, added to our objective of connecting agriculture, technology and people, were essential pillars to deliver innovation and excellence. This way we are able to embrace this growth that we have planned for the year”, he explains.

In 2020, Farmbox also began serving customers in Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela, in addition to being present in 15 Brazilian states. “We feel that digital agriculture gained more space during the pandemic. In addition to maintaining customers who already knew the results of our platform, we received a large demand from new producers wanting to optimize the management and production of their farms”, recalls Cantarelli.

In 2021, the company's efforts are being directed towards two fronts, one of product evolution in terms of agronomic intelligence, integrations and usability; and another in the qualification and growth of sales and service capacity. “In addition to an even more robust value proposition, the target for growth in sales and renewal is 48%, so that the company can reach more producers, while maintaining the already known relationship and quality.”

Farmbox manages field and stock data and information such as: pest and disease infestation maps; frequency of monitoring each plot; pluviometry; schedule of fertilizer and pesticide applications; stock of inputs; forecast of harvest and production costs, total or per-plot productivity and profitability, among others, for complete planning of each harvest and culture.

Recognition

The performance of Checkplant and Farmbox has achieved recognition in agribusiness and innovation ecosystems. Sebrae RS and Instituto Caldeira, through a partnership to foster innovation and entrepreneurship and disseminate successful cases, created a ranking highlighting startups from Rio Grande do Sul, in which the company stands out among the five main agtechs from Rio Grande do Sul. The survey was carried out based on an analysis of the market in which these startups operate, considering those that are already consolidated and scaling the business and delivering solutions to real problems for these markets.