RealmFive Accelerates Growth Strategy for its Agricultural Connectivity Platform with Investment from the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund
EFFINGHAM, IL, June 24, 2020 – The Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund has expanded its growth-stage private equity portfolio with an investment in RealmFive, a Lincoln, Nebraska-based provider of customized hardware, software, remote monitoring, and data connectivity solutions. RealmFive’s innovative suite of products is currently being deployed into a diverse array of markets including ag retail and agronomy, ag machinery and equipment, irrigation and water management, and livestock and animal health.
Jason Wrone, Partner at Open Prairie commented, “As RealmFive moves into new sectors within the agricultural value chain, the potential for the RealmFive Data Connectivity Platform is limitless. Growers in rural America and regions with limited communications infrastructure can now implement affordable and reliable technology in areas of their operations that were previously inaccessible, ultimately leading to increased productivity. Open Prairie is excited to partner with the incredible team at RealmFive as they remain on the leading edge of the next revolution in agriculture.” With the investment from the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, Mr. Wrone will join the RealmFive Board of Directors.
RealmFive believes the “fifth realm of agriculture” involves using data and automation to transition agriculture to a cloud-based management environment. RealmFive is paving the way for producers and agribusinesses to gain critical insights on every aspect of their operations by making communication and data acquisition simple, reliable, and scalable.
Steve Tippery, CEO and Co-Founder at RealmFive noted, “RealmFive is rapidly innovating our industry-leading Connectivity Platform to address the most pressing challenges for an increasingly diverse and growing global market. With an expanding suite of connectivity and automation solutions, we continue to improve profitability for our customers. The partnership with Open Prairie will enable RealmFive to scale its operations, develop more strategic relationships, and capitalize on our technology leadership position within the Fifth Realm of change from Precision to Decision agriculture.”
The ubiquity of the RealmFive Connectivity Platform is powered by its proprietary R5 Core, R5 Cloud, and R5 Click technologies. R5 Core is the industry leading wireless connectivity engine, providing reliability in all environments and scalability across a large number of devices. R5 Cloud seamlessly manages data generated by R5 Core connected devices into a secure and accessible cloud-based platform. R5 Click pulls that data into a user-friendly interface that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
About Open Prairie
Open Prairie, based in the heartland of America with headquarters in Effingham, Illinois, is a multi-faceted private equity fund management firm with deep roots in rural America. For more than twenty years, Open Prairie has consistently focused on facilitating capital accessibility in underserved markets. The Open Prairie team has managed funds ranging from technology-based venture capital to farmland portfolios. Through its expertise across all functional business disciplines and an extensive network of professionals, Open Prairie works in partnership with its portfolio companies to accelerate growth while providing top tier returns to its investors. For more information about Open Prairie, please visit www.openprairie.com.
About the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund
The Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund is an $81 million private equity fund licensed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC). With a collaborative partnership comprised of investors from Farm Credit institutions, commercial and community banks, strategics, family offices and high net worth individuals committed to advancing rural America, the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund is focused on providing debt and equity capital of $2 - $10 million to growth companies in food and agriculture. For more information on the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, please visit www.openprairie.com.
About RealmFive
RealmFive is changing the way customers interact with agricultural technology in areas including agronomy, inventory, irrigation, livestock, and machinery. Using highly improved long-range radio technology and easy-to-deploy devices RealmFive’s Connectivity Platform enables remote monitoring, control, and data-driven decision-making. The RealmFive Connection Platform is modular and flexible, allowing for simple third-party integration and a robust API to other digital farming platforms. With an expanding portfolio of products and applications, RealmFive is bringing sensor-to-cloud solutions to agriculture. To learn more about how RealmFive is revolutionizing agriculture, visit www.realmfive.com.
Contacts
Open Prairie
Jason Wrone – +1.217.347.5430
jason@openprairie.com