Why invest in Drone Ag and Skippy?

Skippy Scout is Drone Ag’s new software platform. It is the only app that automates leaf-level crop data collection using drones and interprets it using AI.

Hi everyone, I wanted to cover as much as possible in this post about the opportunity we’re offering through our funding campaign, why it’s a great opportunity, and how to get involved.

As always, comments and questions are welcomed – if you want to know more, please get in touch!

The way I see it, there are three primary reasons to invest in us:

1. To make a return – of course! We’re going to grow quickly, forecasting to be profitable 2021, moving towards a large exit.
2. Helping to revolutionise agriculture and feed a growing global population.
3. To get access to our technology early, and have a say in what is developed next.

• We are in an industry that HAS to grow FAST. FAO says food production must increase by 70% to feed a growing global population… and it must be done with less land and less chemical options – it must be sustainable. What we are doing addresses these key issues.
• We are at the beginning of the 4th major agri-revolution, a digital one and AgriTech is key. Lots of investment and acquisitions are happening in this space;
• Agrifood tech investment to startups operating closer to the farmer grew over 44% year-over-year 2017-18, the fastest annual growth rate on record. *Agfunder – read the full report.
• Drone applications in farming are popular, and growing fast – CAGR 30%+ 2017-2024.

• We are lowering the barriers to entry, with low cost, easy to use, practical technology that farmers understand – the benefits are clear.
• Our app is working now, and with over 200 users signed up to test it – it is gaining traction already.
• The software has global appeal and it is very easy to export. We already have testers all over the world.

• There is a huge market opportunity both in the EU/US and through the rest of the world – Africa and South America especially are adopting AgriTech fast.
• We are using a SaaS model, which is very easy to scale, with high profit margins.

• Technology is the key to increasing food production. More accurate and more efficient management of crops will increase average yields (the average wheat yield is 8t/ha, the world record is 17t/ha – there is plenty of room to do better!).
• It can be done while becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly, through better timing of applications to stop problems quickly and only applying chemicals where needed, reducing use, costs, and reducing yield loss. 
• As a farmer’s son, I know the difficulties farmers face, the uncertainty, the variables like weather, which at times mean very small windows in which this can be done, when the crop growth stage is right, and the weather is right. Deciding what is needed (and what is not), and getting them done at the right time, and putting them in the right place are probably the three major factors in how well a crop yields, and how much that yield costs.

• Skippy Scout is a technology that can help with all of that. It gives farmers the information needed to make those decisions, and it provides it faster than any other method, with accurate locations in real-time, so the information can be acted upon quickly. The app can also be used now, by farmers and crop consultants, in their current workflows and with very little investment and training.
• Looking forward to our plans for the next phases, drone monitoring and spraying technology, more automation, smaller machines and better overall planning with AI, will also mean less soil compaction and less miles done in machinery, leading to significant fuel savings. We also plan to work with other organisations and integrate with their technology.

• Traceability and justification for decisions are also becoming more and more important. Consumers want to know where their food has come from and what has been done to it. Regulation is going to increasingly make this a legal requirement. Skippy has the added benefit of record keeping by default. Images and maps are time-stamped and geo-tagged, so we can easily show the exact information that was used to make a decision. Then maps used to apply chemicals will show exactly how much was applied, and where.

Skippy scout makes some of this possible now, and is the beginning of a platform that makes this all possible.

Investment now will help us to do this sooner.

• The reason we are crowdfunding is that we believe making it easy for the agricultural sector to get involved directly, down to the individual farmer, is very important both from a feedback and investment point of view.
• For those that would benefit from using Skippy Scout, investing has the added benefit of giving direct access to the app, and also the opportunity to have a say in how we move forward (with an investment of at least £5000).
• For companies that come on board, there is also the benefit of having full access to the app across their organisation. Working together also means we can develop a platform that is highly effective for the company internally as an investor, and for the industry as a whole.

Example: If you invest £5,000 in Drone Ag

• SEIS tax relief would be £2,500 (you get 50% of your investment back as a tax bill reduction).
• Your shares would also carry voting rights.

It also greatly reduces the risk

• Of course we plan to grow over the next few years, but if you pay tax at 45% and make an investment of £5,000 that fails completely, you only lose £1,375 due to the tax and loss relief.
• SEIS relief can be claimed up to five years after the 31st January in the year you made the investment.
• Of course you can still get the SEIS benefits when investing less, without the voting rights or additional rewards. And higher investments also see the same % of SEIS benefits, or EIS at 30%.

Remember, SEIS is available for the first £150,000 invested on a first-come, first-served basis.

Find out more about SEIS here: https://www.crowdcube.com/pg/seis-tax-relief-42

1. Goto to our Pitch Page.
2. You will need to sign up to Crowdcube, very quick!
3. Have a read, please ask if you have any questions!
4. If you like what you see, enter the amount you would like to invest at the top of the page.
5. Answer the questions to confirm you understand the potential risks.
6. Enter your details. 
7. Be sure to mark if you are claiming SEIS/EIS, crowdcube will handle this for you. SEIS will run out fast, so getting in early helps here!
8. Enter your payment details.
9. You will be asked to confirm you wish to go ahead if/when we meet our £250k goal, and you can still cancel within 30 days after that point.

Investments of this nature carry risks to your capital. Please Invest Aware.