Data, data, data: How WINTERSTEIGER Seedmech became a software provider
In 2020, WINTERSTEIGER took over German start-up Kenomx Data Solutions GmbH based in Potsdam.
Kenomx was founded in 2014 in Potsdam by Dr. Svenja Diehl and graduate computer scientist Rico Basekow. The company had worked in cooperation with plant breeders to develop data management software for plant breeding and had marketed the solution in Germany.
“Doesn't Excel do the same thing?”
Modern technology means more and more data are being generated in the plant breeding sector. When it comes to managing this deluge of data – including planting information, appraisals, drone data, genomic analyses, and harvesting data – keeping a few Excel lists isn't enough anymore. It makes sense to use data management software to integrate these valuable data for the long term. In this way, the entire breeding process will be backed up by valid, clearly organized data. These data will help breeders take decisions on the development of new crop varieties much more objectively and quickly.
Svenja Diehl and Rico Basekow believed the sale of the software and their integration into WINTERSTEIGER would give them the best chance of marketing their product effectively and further developing it. For WINTERSTEIGER, the software was another way of supporting customers with the breeding process.
New name: Easy Breed
The plant breeding software is being sold internationally under the name "Easy Breed" at WINTERSTEIGER and provides end-to-end support for the breeding process:
- Management of all breeding material
- Field trial planning and implementation
- Manual and automated integration of collected data
- Data analysis and data visualization
From left to right: Georg Pointecker (formerly Product Management at WINTERSTEIGER), Christopher Schiehauer, Dr. Svenja Diehl, Dr. Florestan von Boxberg (CEO of WINTERSTEIGER), and Rico Basekow
Software developers Rico Basekow and Svenja Diehl at the Klein-Altendorf test site at the University of Bonn (2014)