Engagement — Platform Due Diligence
Code & Co. provides Tech & Product Due Diligence to Avedon Capital Partners ahead of its investment in Kind Technologies
Given rising labor costs, scarcity, and the importance of food safety, the automation and digitization of greenhouses worldwide is becoming ever more critical to ensuring a more predictable, sustainable, and future-proof food supply. With its robotics, computer vision, data, and AI technologies, Kind is using data to improve the quality and traceability of the food growth process and enable greenhouse growers and packing centers to increase yields, reduce waste, and control the growth of fruits, vegetables, and plants.
Following a decade-long pivot towards a 100% AgTech focus, Kind Technologies is ready for its next phase of growth. Kind believes Avedon is the strong partner it needs to disrupt how plants, fruits, and vegetables are currently being grown. The company also expects Avedon’s experience in scaling will help accelerate its own international expansion.
Fueled by an ambition to automate the complete food processing chain, from crop harvest to packed product, Avedon and Kind Technologies will focus on expanding and developing both the product and technology portfolio. The company will further develop its international sales and service organization and scale up production processes and facilities for the next phase of growth. Moving forward, organic growth will be accelerated by focusing on select buy-and-build opportunities that will provide complementary IP and technologies as well as market access.
Kind Technologies, which already developed the award-winning SortiPack® system for fully automatic grading, sorting, and packing of fruits and vegetables, intends to remain a world leader in horticulture technology by leveraging group synergies. These include experience in high-tech multidisciplinary R&D as well as the handling of horticultural products.
More information can be found in the press release.
Scope of Work
Code & Co. provided Tech & Product Due Diligence to Avedon Capital Partners ahead of its investment in Kind Technologies. The due diligence process involved assessing the company’s highly innovative SortiPack® system for fully automatic grading, sorting and packing of fruits and vegetables.
As such, the DD scope included an analysis of the company’s robotics, computer vision, data, machine learning, and AI technologies as well as its scalability and architecture, team and processes, the platform’s flexibility for category expansion, and its growth roadmap.
About Kind Technologies
Kind Technologies is an IP focused AgTech group specialized in robotics, computer vision, data, and AI. In 2021, the company shifted its full focus to innovative automation in greenhouse horticulture, a sector with strong growth drivers centered around a safer and more sustainable food supply chain.
With over 150 highly educated employees, primarily engineers and technicians, the company operates worldwide as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Kind develops its systems and IP in-house and provides turnkey solutions, including value added integration and support services, to customers around the globe.
About Avedon Capital Partners
As a leading mid-market private equity firm in the Benelux and DACH region, Avedon provides support to the founders or management teams of niche market leaders to help them realize their ambitious growth plans through organic growth, international expansion, and/or a buy-and-build strategy. Within these niches, Avedon seeks opportunities within four sectors: i) smart industries, ii) software & technology, iii) consumer & health, and iv) business services. The Avedon team is based in Amsterdam and Düsseldorf.
About Code & Co.
Code & Co. is an independent advisory firm that specializes in providing modern, actionable Tech & Product Due Diligence for the global alternative investment industry. Our expertise uncovers risks that threaten asset value and opportunities to accelerate growth.