39. Beewise

Founders: Saar Safra (CEO), Eliyah Radzyner
Launched: 2018
Headquarters: San Ramon, California
Funding: $120 million
Valuation: N/A
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, Internet of Things
Industry: Agriculture
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0

Israeli agtech startup Beewise Technologies is using AI, sensor, robots and computer vision to save more honeybees as climate change has threatened their survival, leading to more than one-third of bee colonies disappearing each year and threatening food supplies.

This social impact business has designed and built high-tech hives that help the bee's chances of survival, and keep it harvesting honey and pollinating crops. Such innovation has earned it 18 patents. CEO Saar Safra, an entrepreneur with a background in software engineering, joined with commercial beekeeper Elijah Radzyner to form Beewise in 2018, and create a new way to save bees at scale.

The UN predicts the world will face food shortages as the global population increases to 9.8 billion by 2050 from 8 billion today, and as climate change brings more droughts and heatwaves, it will result in less arable land. Honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the U.S. each year, such as vegetables, fruits and nuts, not to mention produce honey. 

Beewise, which generates the majority of its revenue from U.S.-based clients, is not the only startup going after the growing market for commercial beekeeping pollination services, estimated by the USDA at $320 million annually. Former Disruptor BeeHero, also from Israel, is a close competitor. Beewise last raised $80 million in 2022 in a Series C financing led by New York-based Insight Partners, for a total $120 million, and is reportedly in the process of raising a Series D round up to $100 million, according to an Axios report from November.   

Last year, Beewise launched a new AI-monitored beehive that upgrades the traditional, wooden boxes designed 150 years ago. The so-called BeeHome is better insulated and decidedly more techie than the old kind. The size of a small container, this new contraption provides an intensive care routine for the bees, controlling temperature, nutrients and antibiotics. Its new features include a chemical-free, heat treatment to fight off mites. This invention has helped to increase honey production yields and reduce harvesting time. It also has reduced bee mortality by 80 percent, and saved nearly 165 million bees, a number that is tracked with a running tally on its website.

Able to work around the clock, the new bee homes are a time saver for beekeepers, who can use an app to remotely manage operations from their desk or home while advanced hardware in the field monitors and takes care of the bees.  

Last year, Beewise added several large global almond growers and agribusinesses as customers, and even asset manager Nuveen in a partnership to pollinate almonds in California.