Gro Intelligence
A New York- and Nairobi-based platform that analysed global agricultural data with super intelligence
- Founded
- 2012
- Closed
- 2024
- Lifespan
- 12 years
- Total funding
- $117 million
- Country
- United States
- City
- New York
- Sector
- Super intelligence
- Founders
- Sara Menker
- Investors
- Intel Capital, Africa Internet Ventures, TPG, Data Collective
- At its peak
- Named on TIME's 2021 list of the 100 most influential companies
- Cause of closure
- Business model failed
What did it do?
Gro Intelligence was a data platform that combined data gathered from governments, markets and meteorological agencies with satellite imagery to give agriculture and food companies super intelligence-driven insights. Based in New York and Nairobi, the company produced analysis ranging from crop-yield forecasts to climate risk. Most of its revenue came from Unilever.
Why did it shut down?
According to former employees, the company chased projects resembling bespoke consultancy rather than repeatable product sales, and most of its revenue came from a single customer. Going without a finance director for a long time weakened investor reporting. In early 2024 salaries went unpaid, the founding CEO stepped down and layoffs came in two waves. Despite bridge financing, no new capital could be found, and in May 2024 the company decided to shut down.
The story
In February 2024 Gro Intelligence's employees received two pieces of news at once: the company could not make payroll, and its founder, Sara Menker, was no longer CEO. She was replaced by the chief technology officer, James Cariello. For the agricultural data platform, which had raised $85 million three years earlier and been named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential companies in 2021, this was the beginning of the unravelling.
Sara Menker, an Ethiopian-born commodities trader, founded Gro in 2012. Based in New York and Nairobi, the company gathered data from governments, trade bodies, meteorological and geological agencies and commodity and financial markets, combined it with satellite imagery and produced forecasts on matters such as crop yields. The company said it had built the world's largest agricultural data platform. Intel Capital and Africa Internet Ventures took part in its $85 million Series B in January 2021, bringing total investment to $117 million.
The data product looked strong, but the sales side was scattered. According to a former employee who spoke to AgFunderNews, most revenue came from a single customer, Unilever. The company had tried, and failed, to sell itself as a food security platform to an Asian country and to an oil-exporting Middle Eastern country. According to the same source, the team chased work resembling bespoke consultancy projects rather than repeatable revenue, and until very recently the company had no finance director.
In January 2024, 10 per cent of the staff were laid off, and in March, despite bridge financing found at the last minute, 60 per cent. Former employees sued the company on the grounds that it had failed to give the advance written notice required for mass layoffs. Sources cited by AgFunderNews claimed that the SEC was examining whether investors had been misled; the SEC did not comment on whether any investigation existed. At the end of May 2024 the company decided to shut down because it could not raise capital from existing or new investors. In November 2024 a company called Almanac bought Gro's intellectual property.
Gro is a reminder that even the most ambitious data platform cannot survive without becoming a repeatable sales model with a broad customer base that reduces dependence on a single client.
Lessons for founders
- If most of your revenue comes from a single customer, make finding the second and third customers a priority before the next funding round.
- When selling to institutions and large companies, offer a standard package with a set price instead of turning every project into bespoke consultancy.
- Hire an experienced finance director early, once the company starts to grow; regular, reliable reporting is a precondition for raising funds.
Sources
- BREAKING: Ag insights platform Gro Intelligence is closing down (AgFunderNews, 2024-05-31)
- Kenya data analytics startup Gro Intelligence shuts down (TechCabal, 2024-06-02)
- Exclusive: Ag insights platform Gro Intelligence unable to make payroll, replaces founder with new CEO (AgFunderNews, 2024-02-23)
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