Terra

The problem

Farmers make decisions about water, fertiliser and pest control field by field, often without knowing what is happening in each row until it is too late. Satellite imagery is too coarse and too infrequent for many crops, while walking every field is impossible on large operations. The result is blanket treatment: applying the same inputs everywhere, wasting money and chemicals where they aren’t needed, and missing problems where they are.

Why now

Farmers face rising input costs, more frequent droughts and growing pressure to reduce chemical use, all at the same time. Drone hardware has become reliable and affordable, while computer vision models can now identify crop stress, disease and pests from aerial imagery with impressive accuracy. Variable-rate equipment that applies inputs precisely where needed is now common on modern farms, but it needs good maps to be useful. Terra connects those pieces, arriving when growers have both the motivation and the equipment to act on precise data.

The founders

Mateo Rivera grew up on a family farm in California’s Central Valley and watched his parents make difficult decisions with limited information every season. Sophie Laurent spent a decade in remote sensing, building systems that analyse aerial imagery for environmental agencies. They met at an agricultural technology conference and discovered they were trying to solve the same problem from opposite ends: Mateo knew what farmers needed, and Sophie knew how to see it from the air.

Why we invested

Elias walked Terra’s test fields with the founders at harvest and saw the yield difference with his own eyes. Rows managed with Terra’s recommendations were visibly healthier, and the farm had used less water and fertiliser to get there. The founders had designed a service rather than selling drones, flying surveys on a schedule and delivering clear recommendations that fit how farmers already work. We invested at seed because the economics were compelling for growers and the team had earned their trust.

How we helped

After investing, we connected Terra with agricultural cooperatives and crop advisers who now bundle the service for their members. Elias helped the founders plan expansion across growing regions so their fleet stays busy year-round. Our platform team supported them in building partnerships with equipment makers whose variable-rate sprayers can use Terra’s maps directly, closing the loop from insight to action.

Where they are now

Terra now flies precision surveys over hundreds of thousands of acres each season, helping growers cut input costs while improving yields. Customers report saving water during drought years and catching pest outbreaks days earlier than before. The company is expanding into vineyards and orchards, where plant-level detail matters even more. Mateo still spends harvest season on his family’s farm, testing new features with the people who taught him the problem.