CropLogic hires telco exec David de Cuevas as COO

By Paul McBeth

Jan. 15 (BusinessDesk) - CropLogic has hired former telecommunications executive David de Cuevas as chief operating officer, who will lead the ASX-listed Kiwi agritech firm's US expansion.

The Christchurch-based company today announced the appointment effective from Feb. 19, with de Cuevas replacing Matthew Journee who will focus on product development. De Cuevas was most recently at Two Degrees Mobile as general manager of business sales performance and has previously been COO at internet service provider Snap.

"Having such significant experience in the telecommunications industry, particularly in the logistics surrounding the mass-deployment and management of internet-connected devices, means that David will be able to hit the ground running in this role," managing director Jamie Cairns said in a statement. "This is incredibly important in the context of our upcoming rollout into the US market."

The CropLogic system gathers field data, via in-field sensors coupled with satellite communications, to help growers improve the productivity of their crops. Successful trials of the CropLogic system have been completed on potatoes in China, the US, Australia and New Zealand with four of the major multinational potato processors. Further to this, CropLogic is poised to start trials of the CropLogic system in other commodities such as corn, wheat, soybean and cotton.

This month the company said a mobile app under development giving growers immediate access to in-field information will be ready for full release by April and available for the upcoming US growing season.

CropLogic raised A$8 million in an initial public offering on the ASX last year, selling 40 million shares at 20 Australian cents apiece. The shares debuted at 17 cents and have since tumbled to 8.7 cents.

(BusinessDesk)

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