DuPont has penned a definitive agreement to acquire Granular, Inc., a software and analytics tools provider that helps farms improve efficiency, profitability and sustainability. The San Francisco-based company also operates AcreValue.com, a digital marketplace for farmland real estate. This acquisition will enable DuPont to connect growers, analytics, and public and private data to advance its vision for a digitally connected, more sustainable agriculture industry.
“This acquisition is an important component of our commitment to leading and shaping the ag tech market,” says DuPont executive vice president James C. Collins, who is responsible for DuPont’s agriculture segment. “We believe DuPont’s agronomy expertise, deep customer relationships and market reach will accelerate Granular’s business growth and help us deliver more value to growers around the world.”
“We started Granular to make a big impact on the business of farming,” says Sid Gorham, Granular’s co-founder and CEO. “I am confident that as part of DuPont we will make a bigger impact even faster. DuPont shares our vision for using technology to help farms improve their dollar yield, not just their bushel yield. We are excited to pursue that vision together.”
Going forward, Gorham will continue to lead Granular and will also lead digital agriculture for DuPont, which includes responsibility for DuPont’s agronomic software business Encirca.
Founded in 2014, Granular serves nearly 2 million acres of commodity and specialty crops across the U.S., Canada and Australia.
“Granular’s products—both AcreValue and Farm Management Software—have become indispensable tools for me as the leader of a farm business,” says Trey Hill, CEO of Harborview Farms in Rock Hall, Md. “We also rely on Encirca services to make critical agronomy decisions on the farm, so I am excited to see how this combination of leading products, teams, and technologies will shape the future of digital agriculture.”
“We are excited to welcome the Granular team to DuPont and we look forward to working with them to bring a clear advantage to our grower customers,” says Collins. “Granular is recognized as a clear market leader, as evidenced by its rapidly growing customer base and its existing partnerships with agriculture industry leaders, such as the recently announced integration of Granular into John Deere’s Operation Center. We look forward to building on this strong momentum.”
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2017. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Granular will continue to maintain its offices in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and San Francisco.
Source: Successful Farming