Solinftec to be honored with ‘Deal of the Year’ award

West Lafayette-based agricultural technology company Solinftec is the inaugural winner of TechPoint’s Deal of the Year award, thanks to the $60 million growth investment round the company secured in 2022. The award will be presented Saturday during TechPoint’s 24th annual Mira Awards gala.

The nonprofit growth initiative for Indiana’s technology ecosystem says the awards honor the “Best in Tech” in Indiana.

Solinftec makes and sells a variety of products, including autonomous robots that scan and monitor fields to examine crop health and pressures, such as weeds and pests.

The investment, which was led by New York-based Lightsmith Group, is enabling the precision agriculture company to expand availability of its digital-ag operating system in North and South America. Other investors included Unbox Capital and Circularis Partners.

Lightsmith Group Managing Director Sanjay Wagle says his team was excited to partner with Solinftec.

“As climate change and other disruptions continue to put pressure on agricultural productivity and food costs, we need to scale solutions that can help farmers increase productivity per acre while reducing input usage and increasing their responsiveness to changing climate and weather conditions,” said Wagle.

Solinftec has its global headquarters in Brazil, but in 2019 the agtech company announced plans to invest $50 million to establish its U.S. headquarters at the Purdue Research Park.