# Arthur Chen

> Arthur Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Verdi, a Vancouver-based agtech company building affordable, wireless precision irrigation automation for specialty crop farmers. A first-generation Taiwanese-Canadian engineer, Chen studied Engineering Physics at UBC on a Schulich Leader Scholarship before launching Verdi from an academic capstone project in 2020. By 2025, Verdi's IoT platform operates on over 5,000 acres across North America, has saved more than 100 million liters of water, and raised $9.5 million in venture funding - making farm automation accessible to the 95% of growers who've never been able to afford it.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-founder at Verdi
- **Organizations:** Verdi, University of British Columbia, Alchemist Accelerator, THRIVE/SVG Ventures
- **From:** Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Engineering Physics, University of British Columbia
- **Known for:** Co-founded Verdi in 2020, growing it to 5,000+ acres of smart farm coverage across North America by 2025, Raised $9.5 million in total venture funding including an oversubscribed $4.7M USD seed round in May 2025, Saved over 100 million liters of water in 2024 alone

## Career timeline

- **2019-2020** — Project Lead in Precision Agriculture at a stealth company; conducted research sponsored by Google X's Mineral division, discovering water scarcity as a critical pain point in farming.
- **2020** — Co-founded Verdi with Roman Kozak (CTO) and Jacky Jiang, originating from an academic capstone project (ENPH 459) at UBC.
- **2021** — Verdi launched publicly; participated in TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Disrupt 2021.
- **2022** — Participated in THRIVE 2022 accelerator and Alchemist Accelerator Class 27; Verdi saved farmers over 7 million liters of water.
- **2024** — Raised initial seed funding totaling $2.6 million; won WINnovation Award 2024; Verdi saved over 100 million liters of water and $1 million CAD in irrigation labor costs.
- **2025** — Raised $4.7 million USD ($6.5M CAD) oversubscribed seed round led by SVG Ventures; released 4th Generation Block Controller; expanded operations across 5,000+ acres in North America; planning expansion to Peru and Portugal.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Verdi in 2020, growing it to 5,000+ acres of smart farm coverage across North America by 2025
- Raised $9.5 million in total venture funding including an oversubscribed $4.7M USD seed round in May 2025
- Saved over 100 million liters of water in 2024 alone
- Saved customers over $1 million CAD in irrigation labor costs in 2024
- Won WINnovation Award 2024 for making irrigation automation accessible to all farmers
- Participated in TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Disrupt 2021
- Recipient of the Schulich Leader Scholarship, one of Canada's most prestigious STEM scholarships
- Secured patent for Verdi's precision irrigation system
- Helped Canada's largest winery reduce water use by 60% in problem areas and improve grape quality
- Released 4th Generation Block Controller in 2025, enabling scalable row-level irrigation automation
- Integrated with Planet Labs satellite data for enhanced water savings
- Grew Verdi team from 2 founders to 24+ employees

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Verdi closed a $4.7M USD ($6.5M CAD) oversubscribed seed round led by SVG Ventures, with participation from NEC X, Ponderosa Ventures, Elemental Impact, GenomeBC, and others.
- **2025-04** — Released the 4th Generation Block Controller, enabling scalable wireless automation retrofits for any existing irrigation infrastructure.
- **2025-01** — Announced planned geographic expansion to Peru and Portugal.
- **2024-11** — Won the WINnovation Award 2024 for making irrigation automation accessible to all growers.
- **2024-06** — Announced integration with Planet Labs satellite imagery data to enhance water savings and crop health monitoring.

## Links

- Website: https://verdi.ag
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenart
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/irrigationai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/arthur-chen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13