Carrot Ventures launches Cellar Insights Inc.

Carrot Ventures announced the launch of Cellar Insights. It is the second company emerging from Carrot's AgTech company formation model.  

"We're extremely pleased to be launching Cellar Insights," says Martin Vetter, a venture partner with Carrot. "Reducing food loss and optimizing the quality of crops post-harvest is an issue of worldwide importance. Potatoes are the world's third most important food crop, produced in over 100 countries. It is an essential and nutritious food staple, which has led to soaring cultivation rates in India and China. In North America, production value exceeds $4 billion annually, with retail sales approaching $14 billion. Unfortunately, potatoes and other root crops - such as carrots and onions - experience significant losses during storage. Effective storage management practices are vital, and we believe Cellar Insights offers a compelling solution."

Cellar Insights is a Canadian AgTech startup built around a sophisticated suite of sensors and cloud-based algorithms that remotely monitor potato health in long-term storage. The solution includes predictive models and offers management insights to optimize returns.   

Millions of potatoes get stored for up to 11 months in massive climate-controlled facilities. During such long storage periods, farmers face an escalating risk of loss due to shrinkage, reductions in quality, disease, sprouting or spoilage.

Potato storage practices vary widely in levels of sophistication globally, and losses can be as high as 10 to 25 percent. Cellar Insights aims to offer farmers a reliable tool for remotely monitoring and managing the health and value of their stored root crops.

Recruiting the right person to lead the venture is core to the Carrot Ventures model. For Cellar Insights, that person is Terry Sydoryk, who has assumed the role of Founder and CEO.

Terry shared that, "Leading Cellar Insights is an exciting opportunity for me.  Starting out with a vetted technology, a global market opportunity and a committed lead investor is very compelling. The Carrot investment model and their involvement will accelerate our path to market considerably."

Terry has over 30 years of leadership experience in the technology industry, with 20 years focused on company creation and early-stage company growth. As a founding member of the A100, Terry frequently serves as an advisor, board member or angel investor. Most recently, he held the CEO role for Chaordix until it was acquired by Benevity.

Cellar Insights will commence its path to commercialization immediately, including recruiting farmers and potato processors to participate in field trials this year. Interested parties in the US and Canada should contact Terry Sydoryk for details.