About

iScout is a start-up company founded in 2019. iScout provides specialized aerial inspection services for smart & precise agriculture. The new policy of the EU under the Green Deal framework which aims to significantly reduce inputs and create a healthier and more environmentally friendly agricultural production system, brings agriculture to the need of upgrading to modern farming techniques. Nowadays, the agricultural sector of Greece is going through a critical phase, which has been very seriously affected by the international and European economic environment. Agricultural production suffers from fragmentation, small land ownership, and limited availability in resources for its support and development. At the same time, severe consequences of market instability and climate change, which exacerbates the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions, resulting in reduced crop yields and a further decline in agriculture income. Also, agricultural production is facing critical issues related to food safety and adequacy, as the increase in demand is considered a given, because of planet’s population growth.

Solution & Product

The solution we have considered to address the aforementioned problem is the development of an innovative integrated system for the provision of specialized ad-hoc and high added value services which combines the use of Drones with Precision Agriculture techniques and technologies. iScout system acts as software and hardware agnostic systems integrator belonging technologically and business-wisely to the DAAS model (Drone As A Service). IScout aims to provide specialized aerial inspection services of cultivated areas in order to support the right business decisions of the exploiters increasing environmental performance while improving yields and reducing inputs and costs. iScout Cases: •Crop health assessment •Plant Count •Weeds scouting •Field zonation •Vegetation Indices •Yield & Field mapping •Water stress iScout Services: •We Scout - We keep an eye on your crops •They Scout - We help you keep an eye on your crops •It Scout - I.T. keeps an eye on your crops

Innovation & Scalability

The innovation introduced by iScout concerns to an integrated end-to-end management system with main axes: 1. Three commercial service models (we-scout, they-scout, it-scout) to serve corporate customers, producer groups and companies of market players, as well as individual producers, introducing for the first time in Greece the logic of borrowing equipment and remote flight operations to minimize the cost of inspection without the requirement of specialized knowledge from customers. 2. Design and development of unmanned aerial vehicles for inspection and spraying, oriented to the real operational needs of the specific works. 3. Integration of machine vision and learning technology, for more efficient inspection and at a lower cost. 4. Adoption of IoT technologies in drones for immediate surveillance and management of the fleet and of the inspection missions in real time. 5. Development of an integrated online system for receiving inspection requests, managing existing requests, interacting with producers and agricultural engineers, viewing maps and reports, and providing consulting services. 6. Scattering of the fleet throughout the territory for immediate service of inspection requests and minimization of inelastic costs related to travel.

Traction & achievements

iScout was founded in 2019. In 2019 iScout signed an annual contract with CORTEVA Agriscience to monitor the corn and cotton crops of their big customers in 4 different regions of Greece. End 2019 iScout developed in-house technology and automation in operating its Agridrones remotely using 4G infrastructure Early 2020 iScout introduced in the market an innovative and unique business model. The drone-as-a-service utilizing the "they-scout" service and the "it-scout" service, democratizing crop scouting in Greece.

Team & Why Us

iScout was founded by Mr. Simeon Kokkinos, Mr. Dimitrios Ramnalis and Mr. Vassilios Polychronos. Symeon Kokkinos is the Managing Director of INA SA dealing in international cotton trade. INA SA was founded in 1993 and is a pioneering and extroverted export company. Vassilios Polychronos is the founder and CTO of GEOSENSE PCo. He received his diploma in Economic studies from University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece in 1995 and his MSc degree in GIS from University of Leeds, Leeds, UK in 1997. Dimitrios Ramnalis is the co-owner and CEO of GEOSENSE PCo since 2004. He received his diploma of Rural & Surveying Engineering in 2000 and his MSc in Cartography & Geography in 2002 from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Symeon Kokkinos has taken over the sales and marketing of iScout, Dimitrios Ramnalis the financial management and the legal representation and Vassilios Polychronos the technical management.

Funding Needs

iScout is constantly seeking for strategic collaboration with companies focused in DaaS (Drones as a Service) and precise agriculture.