Digital Agriculture in LMICs - 15 Feb #47
The Catalyst Fund announces agritech grantees; Aquaconnect raises $4M to scale up in India; EOSDA and Wonfliki partner for crop monitoring in Ghana
08/02/24
UfarmX and Greentec Africa to provide solar-powered storage to women farmers in Senegal
Nigerian agritech UfarmX, a startup that digitises agri value chains, has entered a partnership with GreenTec Africa to enable women farmers in Senegal access solar-powered storage containers at subsidised rates. GreenTec is a German social enterprise that provides sustainable energy solutions for village communities in rural Africa. Last October, UfarmX announced its expansion from Nigeria to Senegal via a strategic partnership with The SEED Project. UfarmX uses blockchain and AI to enable unbanked and underserved smallholder farmers to access climate-smart insights and finance enhancing productivity and food security. Under the new partnership, UfarmX plans to pilot GreenTec’s renewable energy solutions, which enable the supply of energy to villages and provide farmers with postharvest storage and refrigeration. According to reports, UfarmX is seeking to raise USD 2 million for it seed round. UfarmX has to date engaged 1,400 farmers.
08/02/24
Rally Cap VC launches fund targeting early-stage climate techs in Africa
US-based Rally Cap VC, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage fintechs, has announced the first close at USD 2.5 million of a new climate-focussed fund. Rally Cap plans a final close of the climate fund at USD 5 million. Rally Cap wants to invest in early stage B2B startups, primarily in Africa and Latin America, that develop software solutions enabling the green economy and resilience to climate change. Ticket sizes are expected to be in the range of USD 50,000 to USD 100,000 in each company, with a target of around 50 investments. Rally Cap’s existing portfolio includes Amini, a Kenyan female-founded startup that has to date raised USD 6 million for its B2B solution powered by AI that provides African environmental data to a variety of organisations, including businesses, governments. Use cases include including flood detection, decision making support, and traceability/visibility in supply chains in Africa.
09/02/24
Aquaconnect raises $4M to scale operations in India
Indian aquatech Aquaconnect has raised USD 4 million in a Pre-Series B funding round led by S2G Ventures. The startup, which has recently expanded in the states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam, will use the funding to scale operations in the major aquaculture regions of India. It also plans to double, in the next six months, its network of 500+ input retailers supporting its market linkage solution serving 90,000+ farmers. Aquaconnect uses AI and satellite remote sensing to bring transparency and efficiency to the aquaculture value chain. As part of its “phygital platform”, it offers three main solutions. Aquapartner is a market linkage solution for inputs connecting farmers with input retailers in the vicinity of farms, while Aquabazaar links farmers with seafood buyers. In addition, the company has a fintech platform named Aquacred, which provides credit for working capital needs to the different actors engaged in the value chain. Established in 2017, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series A funding round in 2022.
Image credit: Aquaconnect
14/02/24
Mazao Hub and Tolbi announced as new Catalyst Fund investees
The Catalyst Fund, a Pan-African fund targeting pre-seed startups, has announced a second round of investments in nine companies focused on addressing climate change challenges. The new investments amount to a total of USD 1.8 million. Investees include startups working on sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, energy access, and waste management. Among the agritechs providing digital agriculture solutions, there are Mazao Hub (Tanzania), an AI-powered end-to-end farm management software and soil testing service for smallholders, and Tolbi (Senegal), an AI-enabled satellite data and analytics solution enabling climate-smart agricultural practices. The Catalyst Fund had previously announced its investment in Zebra CropBank (Nigeria), a startup building and leasing solar powered micro-warehouses at close proximity to farming communities and clusters. Established in 2016, the Fund is supported by various organisations including FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi), Cisco Foundation, USAID Prosper Africa and the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
14/02/24
EOSDA partners with Wonfliki for advanced crop monitoring in Ghana
Ghanaian agritech Wonfliki has partnered with EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA), a US-based provider of AI-powered satellite imagery analytics solutions in agriculture and forestry, to deliver advanced crop monitoring services to agribusinesses and farmers. Founded in 2019, Wonfliki started as a drone-as-as-service company providing land mapping services, plant health and disease detection and crop spraying services. It is now looking to add geospatial information to enhance its advisory service.
Image credit: EOS Data Analytics
Through the partnership, the agritech will access comprehensive satellite imagery data, offering insights into crop health, weather patterns, and farm conditions. A year ago, EOSDA partnered with Kenyan precision agriculture company Agrvision to deliver accurate data for crop classification and yield prediction. In 2022, EOSDA also joined forces with Zimbabwe’s state-owned telecoms operator TelOne to enhance the TelOne Crop Monitoring service.