🚀💳 Trustee Plus - більше ніж криптогаманець з європейською платіжною карткою. Спробуй 👉
Марія БровінськаStartup
4 March 2025, 08:40
2025-03-04
Odessa farmers are working on creating an AI assistant for farmers that will help solve pressing agricultural issues. How the SPEROW ecosystem works, digitizing the Ukrainian agribusiness
Odessa agricultural specialist Kyryl Horobets, together with his colleagues, created an agro-tech startup to help small farmers. Its main task is to help small farmers solve pressing issues technologically and as efficiently as possible. To do this, the startuper is creating an entire technological ecosystem around agriculture, and is also developing an AI assistant that could help farmers plan their work and make complex decisions.
dev.ua talked to Kyrylo and found out how SPEROW works, why such a solution was needed, and how the agrarian plans to make the work of his colleagues easier.
Odessa agricultural specialist Kyryl Horobets, together with his colleagues, created an agro-tech startup to help small farmers. Its main task is to help small farmers solve pressing issues technologically and as efficiently as possible. To do this, the startuper is creating an entire technological ecosystem around agriculture, and is also developing an AI assistant that could help farmers plan their work and make complex decisions.
dev.ua talked to Kyrylo and found out how SPEROW works, why such a solution was needed, and how the agrarian plans to make the work of his colleagues easier.
Agroidea and Bill Gates as an inspiration
Kyryl Horobets is an experienced agro-entrepreneur who knows the industry’s issues like a book. According to him, the idea of developing a digital platform that would help him and his colleagues came to him while working in the field. «It’s no secret that digital solutions can make many processes more efficient. And when I started looking for solutions that would be useful to us, I realized that many of the existing ones on the market were either too expensive, and we didn’t need all the functionality, or they didn’t suit us at all,» he says.
The creation of the Sparrow startup was also inspired by a phrase from Bill Gates, which he heard about 15 years ago: «If your business is not on the Internet, it means it does not exist.»
«At that time, I didn’t understand his words. I thought: why does agriculture need the Internet? But the world has changed, and a few years ago I realized how wrong I was. After all, the era of digitalization has already come. We live in an era of rapid development of artificial intelligence and personal assistants,» says the farmer.
After talking with fellow farmers, Kyryl came to the conclusion that the level of digitalization among farmers is very low, and decided to develop this area. «Especially now, young people are getting more involved in farming, they are interested in it,» he argues.
That’s how the idea came to create a place where a farmer could come in and solve all his problems at once.
«I was missing certain digital solutions in the field that could make my work more efficient. I started using various applications for farmers and realized that the functionality that a farmer, an agronomist, needed was not there,» recalls the agrostarter.
Then Kirill himself began to use many different digital solutions: he created Excel spreadsheets, tested applications. In the end, he came to the conclusion that other people’s applications take a lot of time, and the focus is lost. Kirill was looking for a platform for farmers where they could manage their farm and communicate with other contractors in the agricultural sector. And such, the specialist says, does not exist in principle. «I decided: why not make my own application that would work specifically for farmers, for those who work in the field, for those who love nature and the world around them? Because farmers are very interesting and strong people, for whom a very difficult time has come, and, in my opinion, they need to unite, increase the level of communication and, of course, apply innovations and start digitizing their business, because those who do not do this will disappear,» says the agrarian.
How SPEROW works
SPEROW is an ecosystem for farmers, where every farmer can come in and solve a specific problem that has arisen on the farm: legal issues, attracting financing, finding partners, buying and selling various resources or products.
The platform is designed with the needs of small and medium-sized farmers in mind. The startups believe that every farmer has the right to access advanced technologies and resources that will help them manage their farm effectively and efficiently. SPEROW aims to create an ecosystem where farmers can share ideas, experiences, and resources to work together to solve complex problems and increase productivity.
«The main product of our ecosystem is Agro Assistant AI (AAAI or 3AI). It is the farmer’s right hand, helping him conduct his activities and control everything. The basis for the work of the agro assistant is a technological map. That is, the agro assistant can develop a technological map of a particular crop that the farmer is engaged in and calculate how much resources he will need to use,» says Gorobets.
According to him, the biggest problem among farmers today is monitoring and adjusting this technological map, instructions for growing plants, which consists of a certain list of operations. Agricultural specialists plan to combine in their product agromonitoring solutions, weather station data, GPS sensors from equipment, monitoring of plant diseases and pests, etc.
«And our agrosystem will help make each operation more efficient and find the best options to save resources. It will also monitor the operation of equipment, monitor the weather and give certain recommendations regarding weather changes,» adds CEO SPEROW.
Currently, the startup is developing with an orientation towards farmers who cultivate up to 500 hectares of land. «There are already several farmers who are already starting to test MPV and are giving us feedback. Together with them, we are shaping the future functionality of the agricultural assistant,» says Kyryl.
According to him, the project is currently looking for farmers who will test the product during development and adjust the functionality. «We ourselves have an understanding of what is needed, but with a larger sample, this functionality will be more universal for all farmers. Moreover, the approach should be personalized for each farmer, because each farmer has his own circumstances, his own conditions, his own technologies, his own cultures,» the startuper emphasizes.
Team
Currently, a team of four specialists, including experienced farmers and IT professionals, is working on the project. The startup’s CEO is Gorobets himself. He is assisted by an advisor, candidate of agricultural sciences Yevhen Yurkevich, and the director of the agricultural company, CBDO of the project Viktoriya Gorobets.
«The team is probably one of the most painful parts of every startup, because people want to make money, and there is no money in startups,» says Kyryl.
Over the past year, several developers have changed in the project. And now SPEROW is looking for people to develop the product. «I need a partner-STO who has experience, understanding how to create an effective product. I am a person who can go sell the product, attract investments, create partnerships. I need a person, ideally a programmer, somehow related to agriculture, but this is not the most important thing. The main thing is the desire to create something new, innovative and change the world,» says Gorobets.
He adds that farmers are excited about his idea and are eagerly awaiting the release of the platform. «I would have done it all myself, but I’m not a developer,» says the startuper.
$15,000 already invested
Everything that was spent on the project was my own money, says Gorobets.
«We made several different MVPs, then they were reworked, there were different beta versions. A lot of money was spent on development, on training, on attending various events. I have spent more than $15,000 in the last year and a half,» says the founder of SPEROW.
However, he hopes to quickly return these funds. «Our model for monetizing the agricultural assistant is a subscription. We are currently developing the functionality that will be in the final product. But the cost of using the service will be such that every farmer can afford it. There will also be monetization from our ecosystem, from our partners, who will help farmers solve their problems,» says Kyryl.
The startups, in addition, plan to sell a license for our future product to a limited number of farmers and provide them with very good terms for cooperation. Gorobets plans to make the application as accessible as possible for small farmers. And those who have a garden or hectares of land will be able to try the application for free.
A mountain of plans
The Odessa startups have ambitious plans, but first of all, according to the startup founder, they plan to focus on their main product — Agro Assistant AI.
«Our main focus today is development and market entry. 3AI will be so universal that every farmer in the world will be able to use it. We are currently looking for funding for development and support, we have a clear action plan, and we are already working on a new design for the agricultural assistant,» says Gorobets.
SKIF agricultural drones used to survey farmers' fields, now they help the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroy the occupiers. Their developer has opened a school for drone operators
«We joke that now our specialists sleep better.» Ukrainian IT workers created the Engineer’s Tablet. We tell you how development works and why it’s almost a revolution in agro
«Almost a restaurant for cows.» Ukrainian developers of an automated special menu for animals have earned millions and are now working on creating stomach health sensors. The story of the Profeed startup
The first contracts for 400 devices and cooperation with MHP. The story of a hardware startup that improves the lives of cows by developing innovative CRM (Cow Relationship Management)
«Ми не можемо дозволити путіну захопити Україну. Це божевілля». 20 тез Ілона Маска з великого інтерв’ю Business Insider
Мільярдер Ілон Маск дав відверте інтерв’ю виданню businessinsider.com, де торкнувся теми вторгнення рф в Україну, космічних подорожей та речей, що роблять людей особливими.
Наводимо тезисно адаптований переклад тексту.
Дуже дивно, що котра вже стаття, а джерела немає?! Чи не буде ваша ласка посилатися на оригінал, чи декілька джерел?