Deep Planet partners with EIT Food to demonstrate satellite and AI based technology

Oxford-based startup Deep Planet has partnered with EIT Food and Bordeaux wine grower Bernard Magrez to demonstrate the benefits of VineSignal – a satellite and AI based solution that reduces vineyard variability, monitors yield and improves crop quality.

EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

VineSignal aims to help winegrowers in France and across the world adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change, embed more sustainable and efficient management practices to improve grape and wine quality, and increase harvest efficiency.

VineSignal is currently being used by more than 60 customers worldwide including global winemakers such as Pernod Ricard and small and premium producers in Bordeaux. Having monitored over 50,000 hectares of vineyards and more than 100 varieties of grapes, the AI system has been developed and optimised to predict the nuances of grape production.

Deep Planet has been part of the EIT Food RisingFoodStars network since 2020, a programme designed to help startups grow and scale faster through market testing new ideas, providing support from experts, connecting them with leading corporate partners in the food industry and facilitating access to investors. As part of the programme, Deep Planet received financing to help scale its solutions by accelerating the commercialisation of its technology.

Deep Planet’s vision is to help farmers build resiliency against the impact of climate change. The wine industry is the first market.

VineSignal is helping growers and winemakers to improve productivity, quality and sustainability in vineyards through monitoring maturity, yield, vigour, evapotranspiration, soil nutrients and soil carbon.

“We’ve worked with premium producers, small and large growers and corporates globally but mainly in France, Australia and the US with strong case studies. We’re excited to have partnered with EIT Food and Bernard Magrez as we prepare for the next chapter of our mission to help more growers to adapt to changing weather conditions and to benefit from the technology,” said Sushma Shankar, co-founder of Deep Planet.

Deep Planet is also part of Bernard Magrez Start-Up Win, the first startup incubator entirely dedicated to the wine, vines, wine tourism and digitisation sectors. As part of the incubator, Deep Planet has benefited from dedicated support to expand its market presence in France and to better understand regional production challenges.

“We are glad to be a partner of Deep Planet’s incredible VineSignal project. We created an R&D department a few years ago and a startup incubator two years ago, in order to work on and support such game-changing projects. Today, we hope that our partnership with Deep Planet helps us and other winegrowers adapt to increasingly difficult natural conditions that we have to tackle,” said Sébastien Labat, director of Bernard Magrez Start-Up Win Incubator.

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