Farms generate vast amounts of data. From machinery to irrigation systems, this wealth of information can be invaluable for farmers and the companies that support them. Traditionally, however, this data has been fragmented across various formats, creating challenges in interpretation and application. Leaf aims to change that.
Based in New York, Leaf is working to become the "Plaid of farm data," co-founder and CEO Bailey Stockdale explains. The company standardizes a farm’s unstructured data and loads it into a robust application programming interface (API). This innovation empowers Leaf's clients, which include crop insurance providers and agtech startups, to effectively leverage and build upon their data. Pricing is based on the acreage from which the data is harvested.
Stockdale first conceived the idea for Leaf in 2018 after a conversation with the manager of his family’s Illinois farm. The manager shared that he would wake up at 6 a.m. to measure the soil temperature with a thermometer: if it read 70 degrees, they would plant seeds; if not, they would wait. This experience resonated with Stockdale.
“Agriculture is a unique industry; it’s both highly advanced and surprisingly outdated,” he noted. “My family has farmed in Illinois for over 100 years. While many aspects have evolved, a lot of things remain unchanged.”
Stockdale's initial plan was to introduce technology to help decide the best crops to plant and when. With access to extensive data from their tractors, he began exploring this avenue. However, he quickly discovered that while data was abundant, it was exceedingly challenging to interpret. This led him to reach out to other tech companies to learn how they navigated similar issues.
“I called multiple people asking, ‘How do you make sense of this?’ but no one had a solid answer,” Stockdale said. “I thought, ‘Maybe this isn’t the right path. However, if I could create an infrastructure layer to support other applications, it could unlock a multitude of possibilities.’”
With this realization, Stockdale pivoted and launched Leaf. The process of product development was painstaking, as they needed to reverse engineer each type of data file. Since its market introduction in mid-2021, Leaf has partnered with over 80 companies, including major agricultural players like Bayer and Syngenta.
Recently, the startup secured $11.3 million in a Series A funding round. Stockdale shared that despite the company’s growth, it took several months of pitching to attract investor interest, as many were unaware of the severity of the farm data challenge. However, after four months, Leaf found the right investors. The round was led by Spero Ventures, with participation from existing investors such as S2G Ventures, Radicle Growth, and SP Ventures.
Stockdale emphasized that the new funding will be used to expand their commercial go-to-market team, explaining that he has personally handled all sales calls for the past six months, which is becoming unsustainable. Additionally, the capital will help enhance their product to better meet emerging customer needs.
One focus area is improving data quality and accuracy. Some of Leaf’s clients are eager to utilize the data for AI predictive models, aiding in decisions about when to plant specific crops and the appropriate fertilizer treatments based on historical data. There’s also interest among customers in managing their data through Leaf, potentially eliminating reliance on cloud providers like AWS, which is a goal for the company.
“Agriculture is a fascinating industry, marked by a paradox of high sophistication and low sophistication,” Stockdale stated. “We’re excited to engage with our customers and get started; as we gain traction, we become more integral to their operations. It’s a dynamic sector, and introducing something innovative is a significant undertaking. Leaf serves as an API in a relatively outdated industry, and it’s proving to be effective.”
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