Digital Agriculture in LMICs - 20 Mar #7
New $95 million fund to target early-stage agritechs in Africa, IFC leads DFS partnership for Senegalese farmers, Bain & Company finds 2022 as one of highest funding years in Indian agritech
14/03/23
New Africa Seed Fund targets agritech start-ups
MENA’s VC Flat6labs has announced the USD 95 million Africa Seed Fund (ASF). In the next five years, the ASF will invest in 160+ early-stage startups (pre-seed up to pre-series A stage) in sectors such as agritech, climate tech, health tech, edtech and fintech. Tickets will range from USD 150,000 - 500,000. Two cohorts will be run annually, with 10 to 15 startups per cohort. Besides funding, support includes access to a regional network of local mentors and logistical support to set up businesses. The first investments are planned by the end of 2023. Established 12 years ago, Flat6Labs has to date invested directly USD 16 million in technology start-ups.
15/03/23
Report: 2022 investment in India’s agritech sector crossed $500 million
Bain & Company has published the India Venture Capital Report 2023. The report outlines how the agritech sector saw one of the highest funding years in 2022, as total investments crossed USD 500 million led by few large players demonstrating scalability. 2022 saw follow-on agritech rounds, as VCs infused money in start-ups with robust business models. 35%+ share of investments in the sector went to “end-to-end” agri platforms such as DeHaat, FarMart and WayCool. The report also highlights that business models need to be refined, and that agriculture sector still needs to demonstrate the ability to adopt digital agriculture solutions at scale. Going forward, Bain & Company expects that the launch of agritech focused funds in India (e.g. Omnivore), will propel innovation at early stages in areas such as hydroponics and carbon-credits monitoring.
14/03/23
GSMA announces new start-up fund on climate resilience and adaptation
The GSMA has announced the new Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation 2.0. Successful start-ups will receive grant funding ranging GBP 100,000-250,000 over 15-18 months, in addition to tailored technical assistance. GSMA is interested in: 1) solutions that improve resilience of populations and ecosystems based in coastal areas, small islands or urban settings; 2) solutions that tackle challenges caused by extreme weather events; 3) nature-based solutions, such as regenerative agriculture; and 4) solutions that support sustainable consumption and production (e.g. waste management). The initiative is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). There is time to apply until 16 May 2023.
14/03/23
IFC, agCelerant and Bank of Africa partner to support rice farmers in Senegal
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with Senegalese agritech company agCelerant and Bank of Africa Senegal to enable smallholder farmers and small businesses in the rice value chain access financial services. Under the partnership, which is supported by the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), IFC will invest USD 7.2 million in a risk-sharing facility to support the bank lending to smallholder rice farmers and small rice producing businesses. A subsidiary of Mauritius-based B2B agritech Manobi, agCelerant will digitise the agricultural vale chain. The start-up describes itself as a value chain orchestration platform that combines digital tools, proximal presence, and agricultural value chain expertise to connect farmers with credit, insurance, inputs, and buyers.
In other news..
08/03/23
India’s AgriApp raises $121,000 in pre-seed funding
Indian agritech start-up AgriApp Technologies has raised INR 10 million (USD 121,000) pre-seed funding in equity from early-stage angel group Mintosh Advisory. Launched in 2016, AgriApp describes itself as an agri platform and a precision agriculture company. It offers crop advisory, mechanisation services (“drone-as-a-service” for fertiliser and pesticide spraying), and a digital market linkage platform connecting farmers with input providers. To date, the AgriApp Android version has been downloaded 2.3 + million times.
16/03/23
EdenFarm partners with Telkomsel to expand agritech solution in Indonesia
Indonesian agritech EdenFarm has partnered with Indonesia Digital Ecosystem (INDICO), a subsidiary of mobile operator Telkomsel. The partnership follows last February’s USD 13.5 million (pre-series B) investment in EdenFarm led by the venture capital arm of Telkomsel TMI. INDICO focuses on expanding Telkomsel’s vertical digital business portfolios, including edutech, health tech, gaming, and now also agritech. EdenFarm and INDICO will work together to expand the former’s digital agriculture platform leveraging Telkomsel's assets such as IoT solutions. Established in 2017, EdenFarm is a B2B e-commerce platform linking farmers with restaurants, caterers, street vendors, and start-up partners. The start-up has 5,500+ farmer partners and 50,000 B2B customers. It has to date raised USD 32.5 million.