Stenon, the German agri-tech company developing real-time soil intelligence tools for agribusinesses, has secured investment from Yara Growth Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Yara International, in the second closing of its Series B financing round. The amount invested was not disclosed.
The investment follows a first close of €18m ($20.5m) earlier this year led by Dutch impact investor Pymwymic, providing additional momentum as the company scales its soil nitrogen intelligence platform.
For Stenon, the backing of one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of nitrogen fertilisers represents a strong endorsement of the company’s technology and its vision that real-time soil intelligence can become a core layer of modern crop nutrition management.
Validation from a fertiliser heavyweight
The investment comes after AgNavigator recently profiled Stenon’s ambitions to solve what founder and CEO Niels Grabbert described as agriculture’s “nitrogen holy grail”: accurately measuring plant-available nitrogen directly in the field and turning that information into actionable recommendations for farmers.
Plant-available nitrogen remains one of agriculture’s most challenging variables. Levels can fluctuate significantly within a field and throughout the growing season, yet fertiliser decisions are often made using incomplete or outdated soil information.
Farmers also face pressure from fertiliser costs, market volatility, and sustainability requirements.
Stenon aims to address these challenges through its real-time soil intelligence platform, which generates high-resolution soil data and combines it with software and AI-driven analysis to support nutrient management decisions.
Building a soil data infrastructure layer
Announcing the investment, Grabbert said Stenon’s ambition is to make soil information a routine part of farm management.
“Our technology is designed to transform soil data from an occasional measurement into an operational layer of agricultural decision-making.
“By generating high-resolution soil information directly in the field, we aim to give farmers and agronomists a stronger basis for nitrogen management decisions.
“As we scale our offering across crops and regions, we welcome Yara as a partner - an industry leader with more than a hundred years of experience in crop nutrition and agronomy.”
According to the company, the additional funding will help accelerate development of its soil nitrogen intelligence platform, combining real-time soil measurements with expertise in crop nutrition, nitrogen management and digital farming.
