[For more diverse corporate information on startups, visit the 'Data Lab' on the Unicorn Factory Big Data Platform .]
Saepam, which provides crop cultivation solutions by combining satellite data and AI (artificial intelligence), announced on the 30th that it has secured Pre-Series A investment from Nova Ventures, a space and deep-tech specialized investment firm.
Established in June 2022, Saepam analyzes satellite imagery using AI to diagnose crop growth conditions at the plot level and even provides cultivation guidance. Nova Ventures has a track record specializing in discovering aerospace startups and has focused on fostering domesticated technologies in the space sector through funds such as 'Nova K-SPACE Investment Fund'.
Nova Ventures identified Saepam as the company achieving the fastest commercialization results in the downstream (terrestrial application) area of space technology.
Saepam has secured data from 12 global satellite companies, including high-resolution, hyperspectral, and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar). Over five years, it has improved crop yield prediction accuracy by analyzing more than 500 million agricultural satellite data points across 35 crop types.
The results are also significant. Applied to over 8,000 farms in Korea and 200,000 hectares (ha) worldwide, the system confirmed an 18% increase in cultivation volume and a 95% detection rate for pests and abnormal signs.
A representative case is the 'Agricultural Satellite Image AI Analysis Technology Utilization Production Site Decision Support System' jointly developed with Gyeonggi-do Agricultural Technology Institute and Yeoncheon County. It measures crop growth status daily using 0.7m high-resolution imagery and AI analysis, immediately notifying users of any abnormal signs.
Accuracy was improved based on data from 168 rice farms and 52 soybean farms in the Yeoncheon area, and it won the 'CES 2026 Innovation Award' last November. Saepam's solution has expanded its application scope to include local agricultural cooperatives (rice), Pulmuone contract farmers (soybeans), and even local governments such as Uiseong County (garlic) and Goesan County (soybeans).
In particular, for Pulmuone contract farms, the system is applied not only to key domestic production areas from Yeoncheon to Jeju but also to local farms in Russia, Canada, and the United States. The structure that allows crop monitoring solely through satellite imagery without on-site visits or additional facility installation has proven a decisive advantage in remote farmland management.
Expansion overseas is also gaining momentum. Saepam exported services covering approximately 25,000 hectares to Indonesia and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture in Uzbekistan, currently conducting a 90-hectare PoC (Proof of Concept).
Jeong Seung-hwan, CEO of Saepam, stated, "As deaths among farmers due to heatwaves increase, there is an urgent need for a new agricultural paradigm like never before. We will build a solution that automatically manages farming by creating nationwide cultivation methods based on satellite AI data, allowing farmers to cultivate without even visiting their fields."
Nova Ventures believes that with the advent of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite era, an environment where satellite data can be subscribed to at lower costs has opened up, and demand for AI-based agricultural analysis using satellite data will further expand.
Park Ji-young, CEO of Nova Ventures, said, "The space economy is about solving Earth's problems with space technology. With climate change and a declining farming population making it difficult to pass down cultivation know-how to the next generation, Saepam, which provides cultivation solutions using satellite data and AI technology, has high growth potential in the space economy era."
[MoneyToday startup media platform 'Unicorn Factory']
in FUTURE
