FarmHQ, an agtech startup primarily based in rural Burlington, Wash., has raised $500,000 from buyers to develop its irrigation know-how enterprise, bringing its whole funding to just about $5 million.
The corporate has blossomed with greater than 200 prospects within the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia, and its income has greater than doubled year-over-year.
With the brand new funding, FarmHQ plans to develop its know-how and companies for farms that use middle pivot irrigation, which is the commonest sprinkler system however tough to automate. The sprinklers create round crop patterns seen when flying over agricultural areas. The startup additionally goals to just about double its headcount to 9 workers by the 12 months’s finish.
Whereas FarmHQ is marking vital development, it has additionally been navigating challenges created by new U.S. tariffs on China and Canada. The startup is searching for home provides for a number of the {hardware} elements it beforehand sourced from China, however they usually price extra or aren’t obtainable within the U.S., mentioned co-founder and CEO David Wallace.
On the gross sales facet, Canadian farmers symbolize 18% of the corporate’s enterprise. That nation has levied retaliatory tariffs towards the U.S., making some prospects to the north extra reluctant to make purchases.
The commerce battles are creating “confusion and frustration,” Wallace mentioned.
Wallace and his brother Connor based their firm is 2020. The 2 grew up on the household’s potato farm in Skagit Valley, however left for school and jobs with tech firms.
They turned their consideration to agtech after seeing firsthand how bodily demanding and useful resource inefficient it was to function water irrigation programs. The sprinklers might malfunction and flood crops, and required farmers to commonly go into the fields to observe and management the programs.
The Wallaces launched CODA Farm Applied sciences, which rebranded final 12 months to FarmHQ, to sort out the issue. Their know-how regulates the water movement and shares irrigation knowledge in actual time to a sensible telephone dashboard. The platform can pair with a buyer’s present sprinklers and be deployed on irrigation pumps, valves and movement meters.
Irrigation innovation might assist the agricultural sector, which is getting hammered economically as prices rise and earnings decline. Within the U.S., that’s being pushed largely by a labor scarcity that has worsened because the Trump administration has pursued and arrested undocumented employees.
“Automation, digital transformation and workforce improvement are key methods to deal with the labor scarcity,” states a June 2025 report from FTI Consulting. “Firms should prioritize adopting know-how, bettering working situations and fostering partnerships to drive innovation and effectivity.”
Moreover, water conservation is turning into more and more vital because the planet continues warming. Within the U.S. alone, 36 states are presently in reasonable to extra extreme droughts.
Wallace mentioned prospects are proud of FarmHQ’s services and products, which incorporates perks like free replacements for sensors ought to they break.
“Each grower needs the chance to guage the product for a season earlier than they go all in,” he mentioned, including that the majority accounts are tripling their purchases after the primary 12 months. “We’re pleased we earn their belief shortly.”
Regardless of FarmHQ’s success, the general sector is bumpy. Agtech investments worldwide have been in regular decline since 2021, in response to PitchBook knowledge. Funding within the second quarter of this 12 months totaled $1.5 billion, a 23% drop over the identical interval final 12 months.
A kind of rounds went to Verdi, a Vancouver, B.C., startup that introduced $4.7 million in funding in Might. The corporate can also be tackling irrigation automation.
