Digital Agriculture in LMICs - 30 May #16
Indonesia’s eFishery reaches unicorn status, in India Arya.ag and WayCool partner for sustainable, regenerative agriculture as Freshokartz secures new funding
19/05/23
India’s Freshokartz bags funding, launches agri entrepreneur app
Indian agritech Freshokartz, an end-to-end platform providing farmers with market linkages (inputs and outputs), advisory and financial services, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund (RVCF), Real-Time Angel Fund (RTAF), as well as private individual investors. The agritech, which mainly operates in the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, has also launched a new version of its social commerce app targeting village level agri entrepreneurs (VLEs) named Freshokartz Saarthi. According to reports, Freshokartz works with 15,000+ VLEs, reaching over 500,000 farmers. With the new investment, it is targeting to reach 100,000+ VLES by 2024, serving one million farmers. Founded in 2016, Freshokartz raised USD1.4 million in October 2020 in a pre-series A funding round led by RVCF and the Achieving Women Equity Funds (AWE).
23/05/23
Arya.ag and Bayer join forces to promote sustainable agriculture in India
India’s Arya.ag, a B2B market linkage platform for farmers and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in the grain value chain, has partnered with life sciences multinational Bayer. Under the agreement, Arya.ag will offer its services to Bayer’s network of farmers via its e-market platforms. The objective of the partnership is to promote sustainable agricultural practices and enable farmers to access customised advisory and financial services. Established in 2013, Arya.ag embeds financial services for smallholders owing less than five acres, such as loans against their stored commodity in the platform. Through the platform, farmers and FPOs also receive advisory services, warehousing services, fumigation and quality testing services, and access local and international buyers.
23/05/23
Smallholder-focused agritech funding on the rise in India, despite overall agrifoodtech decline
According to the new India 2023 AgriFoodTech Investment report by VC firm AgFunder, the sector saw in 2022 a 33% year-on-year decline in funding compared to the previous hear. Total funding in 2022 was USD 2.4 billion. Deal flows were also down, from 230 in 2021 to 133 deals in 2022. The report highlights that euphoric start-up valuations, alongside easy money, drove investments to a record-breaking high in 2021, followed by a swift correction. However, the report also finds that startups innovating upstream, closer to the farmer and in the supply chain, experienced significant growth, raising USD 617 million, up 50% from USD 409 million in 2021. Within the upstream category, agribusiness marketplaces and fintech solutions were the most funded type of start-ups bagging USD 428 million in 2022. The biggest upstream deal was by market linkages platform WayCool.
25/05/23
eFishery bags $108M, becomes Indonesia’s first agritech unicorn
Indonesian aquatech eFishery has finally reached a much anticipated unicorn status. Last week, the company raised USD 108 million in a Series D round led by Abu Dhabi-based G42 Global Expansion Fund (42XFund) with Northstar Group and SoftBank Vision Fund. Rumours have been circulating since the start of the year. The Indonesian aquatech evaluation is now in the range of $1.3 billion. Founded in 2013, eFishery initially developed an IoT- based smart pond management system, and has over time expanded to an end-to-end solution enabling fish farmers to access markets. The company is planning to use the new funding to support its international expansion to India and Vietnam.
29/05/23
Malaysian agritech DIBIZ targets 48K sustainable palm oil farmers
Singapore-based DIBIZ Global, a blockchain-enabled B2B marketplace for trading sustainable palm oil, has partnered with Malaysia’s Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (DOPPA). Under the agreement, 48,000 smallholder farmers will get free access on both Android and iOS devices to the DIBIZ app enabling visibility in the palm oil supply chain. The app is available in six languages, including English, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Tamil, Mandarin, and Spanish. It digitises the value chain allowing farmers to keep track of their daily activities, tracking yield and providing daily market pricing for better negotiations. It also offers real-time updates on weight and quality from dealers and mills and enables access to low-cost financing. Founded in 2019, DIBIZ describes itself as a Software as a Services (Saas)and marketplace for ethical and sustainable sourcing.
29/05/23
WayCool enters partnership for regenerative agriculture
Indian agri e-commerce WayCool has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) to expand its offering by adopting the Regenerative Agriculture Stack Architecture (RASA). WayCool will provide innovative agri-focused advisory to its farmers also contributing to improving the ecosystem for regenerative agriculture in India. RASA is a digital knowledge platform that enables farmers to monitor and fine-tune their cultivation and harvest process adopting regenerative agriculture practices. Established in 1959, IIT-Madras has nearly 550 faculty and 8,000 students. Established in 2015, WayCool is the third largest digital marketplace for fresh produce in India by operating revenue.
30/05/23
Call for applications: WAYA/AGRF 2023 and DASF 2023
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is calling on applicants for the 2023 women agripreneurs of the year awards (WAYA). The awards recognise African female agripreneurs who demonstrate innovation and business excellence in agricultural value chains. Three winners will receive a USD 20,000 cash prize at the upcoming African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) summit in September 2023. Applications must be submitted by 31 May.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the International Telecommunications Union ITU are calling for practitioners in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region to participate at Digital Agriculture Solutions Forum 2023 (DASF 2023) planned on 11-13 July. Government institutions, research institutes, academia, private sector, and NGOS are invited to apply. Selected solutions would be invited to present at the event.
24/05/23
Good reads: Strengthening Rural Women’s Climate Resilience
CGAP and Mercy Corps AgriFin have published the working paper Strengthening Rural Women’s Climate Resilience: Opportunities for Financial and Agricultural Service Providers. The paper offers an overview of ten opportunities, as well as concrete examples, for service providers, investors, and donors to improve rural women’s resilience to climate change. The ten opportunities and examples are based on CGAP and Mercy Corps AgriFin’s experience working with service providers as well as a review of the literature and evidence. The study highlights the role of new technologies to deliver climate-smart solutions to rural women at scale. It outlines how digital data, digital payments, mobile channels, and platform approaches in conjunction with in-person support and innovative business models, are making it easier for providers to reach women in the last-mile.