Ag Capital Canada and BarrelWise Announce $3.1 Million Seed Investment, Led by Conexus Venture Capital
August 22, 2022
Vancouver-based company BarrelWise Technologies Ltd. has closed a seed funding round. This round was led by Conexus Venture Capital through its Emmertech fund, with additional investment by Ag Capital Canada.
The winemaking industry is at a pivotal point, where thousands of years of tradition are merging with cutting-edge technology. This union of art and science creates fertile ground for innovation in winemaking solutions. Established in 2018, BarrelWise designs integrated measurement and data systems which improve efficiencies and control in winemaking.
The company’s flagship product, the BarrelWise FS1, is a cloud-connected, rapid, free SO2 analyzer for winemaking. It allows wineries to take routine free SO2 measurements up to 15x faster than traditional lab analysis, directly in the cellar.
The speed and simplicity of the FS1 allows wineries to collect high-resolution datasets on their barrels and tanks, which helps prevent expensive incidences of wine quality loss while also providing deep insights into production processes to winemakers.
“We are thrilled to be working with some of the largest and most innovative winery groups in the world to refine our FS1 product,” said Jason Sparrow, CEO of BarrelWise. “With this investment from our partners Emmertech and Ag Capital Canada, we look forward to making high-precision quality control the global standard for wine barrel and tank management.”
“As investors in the agriculture space, we see many precision-ag tools applied in the
cropping industry,” commented Scott Crawford of Ag Capital Canada. “What we like about BarrelWise is that they have developed a tool that makes it feasible to apply these types of concepts to the winemaking process. Given the large variations of SO2 from barrel to barrel that can occur in a winemaker’s cellar, we believe that the industry will greatly benefit from the solution BarrelWise has developed.”
“With our Emmertech fund, we love finding opportunities in the world of agriculture where innovators are bringing speed and simplicity to solving problems across the supply chain,” said Sean O’Connor, Managing Director of Conexus Venture Capital & Emmertech. “BarrelWise places the traditionally slow and expensive lab process of identifying SO2 levels directly into the cellar. Couple this innovative solution with a top-tier founding team, led by Jason Sparrow, and we feel we’ve got a real gem of a company added into our portfolio.”
About BarrelWise
BarrelWise Technologies Ltd. (BarrelWise) develops pragmatic technical solutions to enable winemakers around the world to make better wine. The company optimizes cellar
management processes for wineries with its novel sensing technology, which is faster, more accurate and easier to use than traditional lab equipment. It enables unprecedented data-driven wine-quality insights, right in winery cellars. For more information on BarrelWise, please visit www.barrelwise.ca.
About Conexus Venture Capital’s Emmertech Fund
Emmertech is an agtech fund built from the industry outwards, with an investor base which includes some of Canada’s most innovative farmers, agribusiness owners, agriculture-centred insurers and financial institutions, and Canada’s biggest agricultural province through
Innovation Saskatchewan. Emmertech is fund-managed by Conexus Venture Capital, built with the vision that Canada can become a global leader in agriculture innovation if our founders are given proper access to early stage venture capital. Visit www.emmertech.ca.
About Ag Capital Canada
Ag Capital Canada (ACC) is a private equity fund which invests in Canadian ag and food
innovation and small business growth. ACC aims to discover, develop and nurture Canadian
agricultural businesses through capital investment, business-management mentorship and
entrepreneurial expertise. For more information on ACC, visit www.agcapitalcanada.com.
Media Contacts:
BarrelWise
Jason Sparrow
jason@barrelwise.ca
604.363.0400
Conexus Venture Capital
Laura McKnight
publicrelations@conexus.ca
306.751.8201
Ag Capital Canada
John Lansink
johnl@agcapitalcanada.com
519.520.5515