Korea’s future-farming platform and solutions startup Daedong AgTech has raised approximately USD 11 million(KRW 15 billion) in funding just three years after its founding. Korea Development Bank(KDB) and Smilegate Investment participated in the round. The investors reportedly recognized Daedong AgTech’s strong AI agriculture competitiveness driven by fully verticalized capabilities across hardware — including agricultural machinery and autonomous robots — and AI/autonomous-driving software.

Daedong notes that the group already possesses vast proprietary agricultural datasets central to AI software development, and has established a data pipeline capable of continuously collecting on-field data through agricultural equipment distributed domestically and abroad. Its solid global distribution network was also seen as a key factor, making the overseas commercialization of AI-powered agricultural products and services highly feasible.

Founded in 2022 as an affiliate of Daedong Group, Daedong AgTech has steadily built its position by commercializing connected farming solutions such as remote vehicle diagnostics, automatic farm-log recording, and AI-based early disaster alerts. In preparation for the launch of Korea’s first AI tractor next year, the company has spent the past three years collecting approximately 500,000 orchard and field images and about 3 million driving-video datasets, while also building an MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) framework for rapid model iteration and CI/CD deployment. It has also implemented plot-level and field-level yield-analysis services using smart combines, and introduced “AI Daedong-i,” the country’s first agriculture-specific LLM-based chatbot.

Proceeds from this round will be devoted to core AI agriculture initiatives including connected solutions, precision farming, and smart farming technologies. Daedong AgTech plans to expand the scope of its DHCU-based vehicle diagnostics and develop features that link diagnostics directly to in-app parts ordering. It is also advancing autonomous operations via ADCU 2.0, developing TMU (TMS receiver units) and integrated displays, and co-building sovereign-AI-based agricultural agents in partnership with Naver Cloud. In addition, the company is working on growth-monitoring and top-dress fertilization prescription-map generation technologies leveraging KT satellites.

To further upgrade its greenhouse-growth solutions, Daedong AgTech intends to participate directly in smart-farm operations to secure more on-farm operational data and strengthen real-world validation. Under its vision to become a global leader in agtech, the company aims to complete its robotic precision-agriculture solutions and smart-farming platform, accelerating the hyper-intelligent transformation of agriculture as an AI technology leader.

CEO Yoo-Hyun Won commented, “This round marks a pivotal step for Daedong AgTech in its evolution into a technology leader driving innovation in agriculture. We will continue to build a future-proof agricultural platform with global competitiveness and a sustainable growth model.”