Agritech start-up Cropsy Technologies is changing the face of viticulture, vine by vine

Cropsy Co-founder Leila Deljkovic

With improvements to their cutting-edge crop-monitoring tech, a maturing business model and remarkable growth over the last year, CIE spin-out Cropsy Technologies is poised to transform the landscape of the viticulture industry. 

Every winegrower knows that good results take time – and for Leila Deljkovic, co-founder of pioneering agritech start-up Cropsy Technologies, the entrepreneurial journey has been no different. “My most important lesson is that the only sustainable growth hack is a slow one,” she says.  

This measured strategy has paid off. Cropsy’s covered a lot of ground (literally) in the six years since they first took their transformative crop-monitoring tech to New Zealand’s viticulture industry. While their AI-enabled scanners have already analysed a staggering 22 million vines in vineyards across three continents, the last year in particular has seen exceptional growth: “We’re pushing 20 million vine scans in the last twelve months alone,” says Leila. “Right now, we have 40 scanners deployed – mostly in New Zealand, but also a handful in California and in Cognac, in France.”  

Cropsy’s innovative crop vision system uses real-time AI and computer vision to scan vines, enabling winegrowers to maximise pruning quality, control disease, improve growers’ yield forecasts and more. The simplicity of the set-up – Cropsy’s cameras can be easily mounted on tractors, crawlers, harvesters, ATVs and robots – belies the detail of the data it delivers; each system analyses 8,000 vines per hour, providing essential information ranging from vine counts to mildew detection. “We’re proving that insights can change the course of decisions made in the vineyard,” explains Leila. “We want to fundamentally change how wine grapes are grown, block by block, vine by vine.”  

This ambitious goal hasn’t changed since Cropsy launched. What has evolved is the immediacy and scale at which they can deliver on their mission, she says. “Exploration is very central to what we do day-to-day, and some of our main ‘expeditions’ were around discovering how to scale both technology and pricing model, and discovering how to reach areas of the market we didn’t think were accessible right now.” Adding service providers to their plans has been an exciting recent development for the venture, as it’s unlocked the small to medium market. “With just one scanner, our first service provider can cover nearly 1,000 hectares for over 90 growers, making Cropsy affordable to growers of every size,” notes Leila. 

Their tech has evolved, too. Leila cites upgrading their data chain process as a significant improvement: this enabled them to take data from the scanner to the grower platform in as little as 30 minutes (but typically by the following morning). “This means our users can rely on Cropsy data to inform their daily actions,” explains Leila. “We were able to validate a lot of use cases because of this.” 

The improvement also opened up the possibility of doing live demo scans – and their subsequent decision to launch these in New Zealand and the US proved pivotal. “We took a big chance on that concept, and it went tremendously,” enthuses Leila. “These sessions are very interactive, so everyone loves it. A live demo breaks barriers in a very unique way – questions are no longer about ‘What’s this AI thing? How does it work?’ You see the scanner, you see the platform, you see your vines on it – and everything becomes clear as day.” 

Although Leila concedes that it’s not easy to reach an international market from a New Zealand base with a team of only ten, she’s pleased with their progress: “We have a recipe that we know works, and it’s translating well in the US.” The EU is also in their sights. “Being in France already, the surrounding wine giants are naturally the next places to look,” she says. 

However, the post-Covid years have not been without their challenges – for example, the current squeeze on the global wine market. “There’s a post-Covid correction happening with demand, combined with younger generations drinking less wine. Globally, many growers are struggling to sell their grapes,” observes Leila. All the more reason to invest in innovation, she suggests. “We’re able to offer growers something that is not just valuable during times like these, but will reshape the playing field in the future,” she says. “Tech like ours could turn losses into margins, and shift value across all viticultural activities.”  

The agritech industry is certainly on the up. The global agritech market size was valued at approximately US$27.38 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$108.17 billion by 2032. “Around the world, new solutions are surfacing, even in our niche,” observes Leila. “It shows more bright minds and investors are seeing the value in addressing growers’ needs and solving problems in the industry through innovation. That said, the field is wide open for a leader to emerge and head the race.” 

That leader could be New Zealand, she suggests. “I think New Zealand has a genuine opportunity to be a global leader in agritech. We have talented people, we know a lot about agriculture – it’s central to our economy.” So what’s stopping us? Underinvestment in innovation, she believes. “Agritech is globally underfunded, with New Zealand being even more underfunded,” she asserts. “As it is now, agritech is not going to lead us to a prosperous future. We cannot cut funding in technology – we need more investment in technology to create value.” 

The support of entrepreneurship development programmes like Velocity, delivered by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), is also critical. Cropsy had its genesis in Velocity, and the programme – in particular the mentorship it provided – has left a lasting legacy. “Hands down the most valuable part was connecting with our two mentors,” Leila observes. “One is now a customer, and the other is a director on our board. That kind of value is off the charts.” 

Building meaningful relationships with customers as well as with mentors has been key to Cropsy’s success. “Sit with customers until you can finish their sentences, then build the one thing they can’t imagine working without,” Leila advises. “Start with the relationship, not the roadmap – every minute spent listening is compound interest for product clarity. Customers rarely present the real problem. Strip complaints down to root causes, and you’ll uncover the heart of your product. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is what your customers believe, say and do – that’s it.”  

It’s an important insight. But Leila’s entrepreneurial experiences have delivered learnings on a personal level, too – in particular, how much she’s enjoyed her journey from engineer to entrepreneur. “I’ve gained an appreciation for business, learned to love strategy, how to be an operator, how to build a product, a team, processes for success…each of those threads goes deep. I haven’t even broken the surface,” she reflects. “I’ve realised how much there is yet to be learned, and how many experiences there are ahead of us. Entrepreneurship bombards you with opportunities for personal growth and up-skilling in countless domains.” The outlook is equally optimistic for Cropsy Technologies. “The more time we spend in the industry, the more opportunities we find.”