The founder and CEO of Fermata, Valeria Kogan, was considered one of the “under 30 years of age under 30” in 2022, (Valeria) is a continuous entrepreneur and has a good record in biotechnology and innovation. As the founder of Fermata and Biotech Smartomica, Valeria combines her scientific professional knowledge with the visionary methods of transformation industry.
Fermata is a data science company that has completely changed agriculture through cutting -edge computer vision solutions. Its flagship platform Croptimus™Provide 24/7 automatic detection of pests and diseases to help growers identify white powder, bud rot and mosaic before upgrading. By reducing the time of reconnaissance and minimizing the loss of crops, Fermata enables farmers to focus on solutions and increase their yields to the greatest extent, whether in the controlled environment or in the outdoor environment.
What prompted you to transition from biological information and cancer research to agricultural technology? How can your experience in Smartomica influence the establishment of Fermata?
My transition from biotechnology to agriculture is very accidental. Friends of my tomato manufacturer’s friends are looking for people with AI experience to apply in agriculture with a good combination of thoughtfulness. At that time, deep learning just started and caused a lot of buzzing sounds in the technical field-it also applied immediately in the medical field through computer vision in radiology. Everyone in my circle is talking about it, so when I see what agricultural people show to me-the plant health problems that can be detected visually, you need to identify these problems in real time-click immediately. I have an idea to bring knowledge from medical space to agriculture. This is an industry that is not very popular and digital.
In the context of AI and Biotech, what challenges do you face these technologies to adapt to agriculture?
In my opinion, in general, anyone who goes to the conservative industry with digital products faces the same resistance. However, if you are an outsider, it is difficult. My approach is, and is willing to use our company’s knowledge to help people’s humility and drive, rather than telling them that they are doing the wrong, and how we help them do this in the right way. Through each dialogue with the growers, we learn and try to maintain open thoughts instead of not attached to our technology. At the same time, we will give priority to the needs of the growers and adjust our products accordingly.
Fermata focuses on reducing crop losses and pesticide use. In the agricultural industry, what is the initial acceptance of this idea? How do you persuade stakeholders to use AI -driven solutions?
The initial receiving was impossible. I can’t say that it has changed much in the past 5 years! We have seen the strong support of early adopters and many concerns of the extensive audience. We are fortunate to have those customers who believe in this technology, not just paying our money, but also becoming an exhibition for the rest of the market. The best thing we can really do is to let the product speak to ourselves.
How does Croptimus ™ integrate multiple data sources, such as satellite images, sensors and AI models, thinking that the growers provide feasible insights?
At present, we only use visual data from cameras to analyze plant health and identify pests, diseases, nutrition and other problems. However, with the new development of the AI industry, we know that other data sources can bring us higher detection quality and the benefits of enable prediction analysis. At present, we only use climate data in certain projects, but we plan to expand in 2025.
Compared with other AgTech solutions, Fermata’s early pest and disease testing capabilities are different?
There are a few things that make us different from the public. First of all, in the past five years, we have collected a crazy plant image database through customers and our own R & D facilities, where we infected plants to collect other data. We also used an internal label team, and we have undergone very careful training. Combined with the wide network of agronomic experts from the world, this helps us establish a very high -quality data set. The in -depth understanding of machine learning and the combination of product vision will help us create useful simple products.
Artificial intelligence and computer vision are developing rapidly. How does Fermata ensure that its technology maintains a leading position in this competitive pattern?
In Fermata, we follow the data -centric method to ensure high -quality and flexible data marking by summarizing agronomist and data scientists. We invest in different data sets to maintain our technical competitiveness. We also focus on solving specific problems and cooperate with partners when needed to maintain our work best.
You have emphasized that sustainability is the key goal. What do you think of Fermata’s technology influence the world’s efforts to reduce food waste and minimize environmental damage?
By helping farmers identify pests and diseases in time, we help them prevent losses, minimize food waste and reduce the use of pesticides. When climate change, this is particularly important in the current environment. Many growers have suffered new pests or diseases that have never been seen before. Therefore, early testing and assistance to adjusting the relief strategy are essential for them.
It is an important milestone to raise a $ 10 million A series of funds. How will this funds speed up Fermata’s vision and what is the direct priority of your growth?
We plan to use this money to grow from “AG’s Eyes” to “AG’s Brain”. By integrating more data sources into our platform, and expanding the pests and diseases other than our product list. Our direct priority includes focusing on some markets-Canada and the Netherlands, as well as tomato crops to obtain a large market share of the market segment, and then copy it into other regions and crops.
Do you play emerging technologies in Fermata’s future innovation, such as robotic technology or Internet of Things?
In my opinion, the progress of robotics and the Internet of Things will bring great value to Fermata, because all these companies are our potential partners. We look forward to seeing the new method of collecting data and automatic solutions to move through facilities and use less sensors and cameras to achieve the same goals.
What is the next step of Fermata? In the next few years, have you particularly excitedly explored specific crops, regions or technology?
In 2025, we will focus on tomato producers mainly in Canada and the Netherlands, but then, we aim to extend the services to cucumber and peppers, and then other vegetables such as strawberries and grapes. I hope we will enter the global market at the end of this year and 2026. Regarding technology, our plan is to surpass pests and diseases to predict production, evaluate the efficiency of pollination, many other exciting tasks, and many other exciting tasks farmers will appreciate AI help.
Thank you for your outstanding interview, and hope that more readers should visit Fermata.
