Sentinel Fertigation closes $1.2M seed fund round

Sentinel Fertigation, Lincoln, Nebraska, a technology company that devised a platform to quantify nitrogen status in crops to anticipate fertigation needs, closed its initial $1.2 million seed fund round. The fundraising round includes investors from Invest Nebraska, Burlington Capital Ag-Venture, Nebraska Angels, Proven Ventures and several angel investors across the U.S., according to Silicon Prairie News.

The raised funds will go toward completing software development, enacting initial imagery contracts and developing partnerships that will help enhance the software features of Sentinel’s fertigation management platform, N-Time FMS. The funds will also be used to forge a team of implementation specialists and software engineers and increase Sentinel Fertigation’s crop and geography coverage.

Sentinel Fertigation was founded by Jackson Stansell, who serves as CEO of the company. Through Stansell’s master’s work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he optimized a framework for using imagery of the crop canopy to time fertigation applications.

Stansell developed software to facilitate framework execution, making it accessible to growers and their advisors to better their bottom line and decrease their environmental impact.

“Jackson Stansell leading Sentinel Fertigation is a perfect example of Nebraska entrepreneurs developing solutions that help farmers across the Midwest,” says Stephanie Luebbe, Nebraska Angels executive director. “The market is prime for a solution like this right now and we’re bullish on what Jackson can accomplish and learn this growing season.”

This summer, Sentinel Fertigation will work with farmers across the Midwest in a paid pilot program.

“Sentinel Fertigation provides a win-win solution that ultimately allows farmers to increase their yield per unit of applied nitrogen and enhance their environmental sustainability,” says Stansell. “I am grateful for each of our investors and their support in our efforts to bring N-Time FMS to farmers and their trusted advisors. Our paid pilot program this summer is the first step to our system making a significant impact at scale. I am excited about the team we have begun assembling and working with them to make Sentinel the leader in fertigation management.”