MagGrow, a Dublin-based firm developing agtech solutions, announced that it has raised €3m from existing and new investors.

The business was founded in 2013 by Gary Wickham (pictured), Derek Wickham and David Moore. Its flagship product is a spraying technology that uses magnetic fields to reduce wastage by causing the sprayed liquid to better cling to whatever plants or land it is being distributed over.

MagGrow claims to have raised more than €10m since it was founded. Clients hail from agricultural markets in the US, Canada, Europe and South Africa.

The bulk of 2018’s fundraising seems to have come from a mid-year conversion of €2.5m in loan notes to equity.

The loan notes were owned by asset management company Atrium Group. MagGrow investor and non-exec director Frank van Bezooijen established Atrium Group in 2007.

In Association with

Atrium has co-developed real estate projects in Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, the US and Canada, and holds several VC investments. They include MagGrow and serviced apartment venture Short Stay Group.

“The board and investors are excited by the commercial success of core products launched for the pesticide spraying market in 2018,” said van Bezooijen.

MagGrow’s operating company, Agricultural Magnetics Limited, booked a loss of €2m in 2017, bringing accumulated losses to more than €4m. The firm tripled its year-end debtor book value to €1.9m when compared with the year before.