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HomePosts Tagged "funding" (Page 3)
Agro Universities, Agrotech, Finance, IT, R&D

Researchers of International Rice Genebank (IRG) aim to apply a combination of AI and high-throughput phenotyping methodologies to assess the IRG rice collection’s tolerance to abiotic stresses.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is receiving 2 million USD in grant funding from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, to harness the power of Artificial intelligence (AI) towards fast-tracking the development and deployment of high-yielding, climate-resilient rice varieties to sustain and increase rice production in the face of climate change.

Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, has set up this competitive grant to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Through this grant, the researchers from IRRI’s Fit-for-Future Genetic Resources unit that steward the International Rice Genebank (IRG) aim to apply a combination of AI and high-throughput phenotyping methodologies to assess the IRG rice collection’s tolerance to abiotic stresses such as flooding, drought, and salinity – making a laborious, costly, and time-consuming process more efficient. This will also promote the enhanced utilization of the genebank’s resources.

“IRRI’s genebank is the world’s largest rice gene bank and holds, in trust, over 132,000 varieties originating from 132 countries. This rich resource is used for breeding to develop new and better rice varieties. At present, only five percent of this resource is used due to limited information on its collections, as we lack appropriate, cost-effective, and high-throughput phenotyping methodologies. AI will undoubtedly unlock the genebank’s full potential in helping address these critical food security challenges,” said IRG Head, Dr. Venuprasad Ramaiah.

Google.org’s AI for the Global Goals Impact Challenge is part of Google’s company-wide commitment to help accelerate progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. IRRI is one of 15 organizations receiving support through the $25 million philanthropy challenge for projects that use AI to accelerate progress towards these goals. Out of many submitted proposals, 15 were selected for funding. Importantly, all of the projects will be open-sourced so other organizations can build upon the work.

“Each of the 15 selected organizations share our vision for using AI to accelerate progress on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and each organization brings their own expertise to help move the needle,” said James Manyika, Google’s SVP of Research, Technology & Society. “We are inspired by the possibilities they see for how AI can be harnessed to help people solve societal problems, and are excited about the collective impact they will have over the next three years.”

Based on projections, the IRRI team foresees economic returns of at least 30 billion USD from the project’s implementation after five years from release. The project also presents an opportunity for the capacity strengthening of national research institutions’ staff, which will bring further long term benefits.

“The project is expected to bring a significant impact on food security and biodiversity conservation while promoting social, nutritional, gender, equity, and entrepreneurship benefits, and building the resilience of rice-growing and consuming countries to climate change. We thank Google for their support in this meaningful initiative,” said IRRI Interim Director General, Dr. Ajay Kohli.

Researchers of International Rice Genebank (IRG) aim

Agrotech, Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

Company plans to utilise the funds for expanding its Agrani platform & Khet Se Kitchen Tak Initiative.

Noida based full-stack agri-tech firm Leads Connect announced that it has raised Rs 500 crores ($62.5 Million) from BL Agro Industries Ltd, a leading FMCG company, with an aim to enhance its agro-tech stack that would provide more value to farmers.

The funding from BL Agro in Leads Connect would be spread over a period of three years leading to controlling stake by India’s leading FMCG firm. Leads Connect specializes in farm analytics and advisory through agri-tech driven data analytics and modelling, crop cutting experiments, risk management, financial services (farmer loans), and procurement from farmers. The funding will be utilised by Leads Connect towards technology advancement, increase reach among farmers, FPO, co-operatives, and expanding the beneficiary farmer base through establishment of AGRANI Centres in various cities, running awareness generation campaigns, mergers & acquisitions, contract farming, and investment in Research for Deep-tech and AI/ML in agriculture as well as to improve quality procurement and supply chain cycle for BL Agro.

Through further development of its AGRANI (Agriculture & Disaster Risk Analytics using Next Intelligence) platform, Leads Connect aims to enhance its Khet Se Kitchen Tak initiative. The Agrani platform is a Space Tech-AI based Multi-Event Real Time Analytics Omni-Channel Platform for Delivering end-to-end Precise, Hyperlocal, Context, & User Driven Agri-FinTech Services.  There are three apps of the Agrani platform – Agrani Kisan app for farmers, Agrani Saathi for agents, VLE (Village Level Entrepreneurs) and employees and Agrani PRO for FPO, Agri Businesses, exporters and trading houses.

Commenting on the investment, Navneet Ravikar, Chairman and Managing Director, Leads Connect Services, said, “Our partnership with BL Agro will help us to expand agri-tech and agri-fintech in the country and bring in more value to Indian farmers.”

Welcoming the association, Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director, BL Agro said, “We are delighted to announce our strategic investment in Leads Connect aimed at creating a new chapter in the Indian agri-tech industry. Over the next three years, we would be investing Rs.500 crore leading to a controlling stake in Leads Connect. The synergies of BL Agro and Leads Connect will help Indian farmers get more value by improving market linkages.”

Overwhelmed with the response it has received for its Agrani platform, Leads Connect now plans to set up Brick and Mortar Agrani Kendra throughout India bringing the farm advisory, financial services and market linkage to the doorstep of farmers/Agri-businesses. Apart from increasing yield efficiency, Leads Connect offers digitalisation and end-to-end analytics, including Geospatial Intelligence, SpaceTech and Drone as a Service (DrAAS) for precision farming. Leads Connect also plans to introduce the Agrani platform into the dairy value chain soon.

The Khet Se Kitchen Tak is a farm-to-fork solution that is designed to help improve the productivity and sustainability in the agriculture sector. The initiative will see more than 100 FPO enrolling for the project and will benefit around 50000 farmers initially in UP, Haryana, Telangana and Rajasthan, for the crop value chain in the next six months and then roll out pan India.

Company plans to utilise the funds for

Agrotech, Company News, Finance, India, Start ups, Trade

 Singapore based Powerhouse Ventures led the round with participation from WEH Ventures, All In Capital, Indian Silicon Valley and angel investors Anant Sarda and Adhish Ladha.

 Hectar Global, a Chennai based B2B cross-border Agri commodity procurement platform, announced today that it has raised US$2.1 Million in seed funding led by Powerhouse Ventures. The round also saw participation from WEH ventures, All In Capital, Indian Silicon Valley, and angel investors Anant Sarda and Adhish Ladha. Founded by National University of Singapore alumni Srinath Srinivasan, Sibhi Kumaran and Aswath Balaji, Hectar Global helps food buyers worldwide to purchase container volumes of Agri commodities with e-commerce level convenience.

With the global Agri commodities trade exceeding US$3 Trillion annually, Hectar Global aims to be at the forefront of the digital transformation in the industry. The company’s platform digitizes complex cross-border supply chain processes, making them more efficient, transparent, and sustainable. It leverages advanced data models and machine learning algorithms to provide real-time market information and actionable insights, helping customers plan their purchases to maximize profits.

 Kshitij Golwalkar, General Partner at Powerhouse Ventures said, “Trading in Agri commodities requires deep domain expertise, given the inherent complexities in product qualities, price fluctuations, documentation, and freight.  We feel that the team’s experience in cross-border trade and their ability to build technology products holds them in good stead to create significant impact in this industry.”

“While we are enamoured by the opportunity, as the market size is obviously large and there is no company effectively leveraging tech yet, our commitment to Hectar was primarily driven by the passion & execution demonstrated by the founding team. We believe there’s a definitive founder-market fit here” added Rohit Krishna, GP at WEH Ventures.

“We have maintained a strong emphasis on operating profitably right from our inception. Our internal accruals have taken care of all operating expenses so far and we are primarily viewing this capital infusion, and future equity rounds, to rapidly expand into new geographies, and strengthening our digital infrastructure.” said Srinath Srinivasan, CEO of Hectar Global.

The company currently has offices in Chennai, Singapore, Dubai, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and has shipped over 50,000MTs of Agri commodities to Asia, Middle East and Africa.

 Singapore based Powerhouse Ventures led the round

Agro Universities, Agrotech, Australia, Company News, Finance, R&D, Seeds

Research aims to produce plant seeds by selection from wild populations with characteristics suitable for commercial native grain production and food markets.

Native grasses hold excellent nutritional value such as fatty acids, but their potential as a food source and economically viable industry has not been investigated, until now. Bayer is proud to provide a $240,000 grant to the University of Sydney to investigate the untapped potential of native grains. 

As a life science company, Bayer is continually looking at innovative ways to support and strengthen underserved communities.  The three-year research program aims to grow the Indigenous native grain industry by revitalising traditional methods of using grains, investigating the use of plant selection to identify wild populations with suitable attributes for commercial grain production, and amplifying education and knowledge sharing among the local Kamilaroi and other First Nations communities. Importantly, the research program includes supporting an Indigenous trainee to increase skills base and support the emerging industry.

Research objectives

Specifically, the research objective is to produce plant seeds by selection from wild populations with characteristics suitable for commercial native grain production and food markets.

Desirable traits include high seed yield per hectare, low shattering, easy to harvest, easy to thresh, high thousand kernel weight, high protein (or other desirable nutrients), and compactness and uprightness in inflorescence.

This project is supported exclusively by a Bayer grant, and research conducted by The University of Sydney Plant Breeding Institute. If superior plant forms are identified, the Indigenous communities will have the rights to use, grow and commercialise these forms, as the IP for the future variety has already been signed over to the University of Sydney.

Research aims to produce plant seeds by

Agrotech, Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

The fresh infusion of capital will enable Satyukt Analytics to expand its satellite network, enhance its analytics infrastructure, and further refine its algorithms.

 Satyukt Analytics Private Limited, a Bengaluru-based agri analytics startup that uses satellite technology and machine learning to provide SaaS based advisory services in a direct to farmer manner through sat2farm mobile app to farmers, including small and marginal farmers, is ecstatic to announce a successful pre-Series A funding round led by NABVENTURES. This funding enables Satyukt to accelerate the growth of sat2farm app that empowers farmers with data-driven insights, sat2credit app that helps BFSI players to evaluate a farm’s creditworthiness and credit risk and introduce new products such as sat4agri for agri input companies and sat4risk for agri insurers.

Satyukt has a proprietary technology that can measure farm soil nutrients content within minutes enabling stakeholders to assess soil quality on their mobile devices without having to visit the farm. Assessing creditworthiness in the agricultural sector has historically been difficult due to limited access to reliable data and remote locations. Sat2credit is a revolutionary tool for BFSI industry as it provides in-depth farm-level analysis and insights enabling banks and financial institutions to make customised digital lending decisions. Using Sat2credit, the lenders can assess the creditworthiness, determine the credit scores of potential borrowers, structure loans more effectively, expedite the lending process for farmers, and tailor loan offerings to meet their specific needs. Sat2Credit’s exhaustive analysis offers vital insights into producers’ financial health, productivity, and risk profile.

NABARD Chairman, Shaji K. V. mentioned, “Satyukt is a unique agritech startup harnessing the power of satellite data and remote sensing for the benefit of farmers. The potential is immense for Satyukt and it is a good candidate for inclusion in the AgriStack platform announced by the Central Government”.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with NABVENTURES on our journey to revolutionise the agriculture industry. We have put the power of advanced data analytics and remote sensing at the fingertips of our app users. Dr Sat Kumar, CEO of Satyukt, commented, “By leveraging these cutting-edge technologies, we enable agriculture stakeholders to access and utilise accurate, real-time data that can drive their decision-making processes and positively impact their operations.”

NABVENTURES Fund in which NABARD is an anchor investor, is the leading agri, food and rural tech VC fund in India with investments in Jai Kisan, Unnati, Vilcart etc. Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, CEO of NABVENTURES, remarked, “Satyukt Analytics is the only startup in India to measure nutrients in soil using satellite data. It is the only satellite data analytics startup, which works directly with farmers through its sat2farm app using a b2c approach while all other players have chosen the b2b2c route. Satyukt is a global SaaS in the making and has the best satellite data analytics and remote sensing team with advanced AI/ML capabilities. Satyukt’s sat2credit platform is a great product for inclusion in loan management systems (LMS) of digital lenders and fintechs”.

Dr. Yukti Gill, Managing Director of Satyukt, stated, “Satyukt Analytics is committed to being at the forefront of innovation, continually exploring new methods to improve the accessibility and usability of farm-scale data for the benefit of farmers and the agricultural sector as a whole”.

Equity 360’s Sumeet Seraf has advised and supported this transaction, stated, “Satyukt Analytics has gained significant traction since its inception, building a reputation for its accurate and timely analytics solutions. The company’s technology holds the potential to revolutionize agriculture by optimizing resource allocation, enabling precise irrigation and fertilization, and mitigating the impact of climate change on crop production.”

The fresh infusion of capital will enable

Agro Universities, Australia, Finance, India

The project will identify critical and emerging jobs that require advanced practices that will meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs.

The University of Adelaide will play a leading role in strengthening India’s agriculture sector as part of a ground-breaking project which has received $1.8 million in funding from the Federal Government.

The project will identify critical and emerging jobs that require advanced practices that will meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs. The University of Adelaide will lead a consortium of highly experienced partners from the vocational training and agriculture sectors in both countries, including Skills Impact, Central Queensland University, the National Skills Foundation of India and the Agricultural Skills Council of India.

Dr Tamara Jackson, a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, is the lead researcher on the project, and said it was a great opportunity to help build the capability of India’s agriculture workforce and make valuable connections between the sectors in the two countries.

“This project will research, design and deliver pilot training products, in partnership with stakeholders from the Australian International education sector and Australian and Indian agriculture sectors,” Dr Jackson said.

“This training will help meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs and provide connections for Australian education providers while strengthening the bilateral relationship by developing skills for a critical industry. We will explore partnerships between industry and education providers of both countries through the co-development of occupational standards for critical and emerging job roles across India’s key agriculture sub-sectors”.

Specific areas of focus will be determined based on a comprehensive scoping study across agricultural production and other related sectors. The project will run from 2023 to 2024 and is an opportunity to build connections between India and Australia’s agriculture and education sectors, through training based on Australia’s quality, regulated skills qualifications. Ultimately, benefits will flow to farmers and other parts of the agricultural value chain.

“This training will help meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs and provide connections for Australian education providers while strengthening the bilateral relationship by developing skills for a critical industry”, said Dr Tamara Jackson

For example, Farmer Producer Organisation Saubij Mitra in West Bengal, is using new agricultural techniques and marketing arrangements to empower local communities. Twenty women’s self-help groups which belong to Saubij Mitra are growing mushrooms as an additional source of income.

The University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine is based at the University’s Waite campus. It is home to the largest concentration of agriculture and wine research and teaching expertise in the Southern Hemisphere.

The project will identify critical and emerging

Agrotech, Company News, Finance, India

The fund inflow will be utilised towards committed debt reduction target of $500 Mn by the end of March 23.

UPL Ltd. announced the completion of investment of Rs 1,580 Crore ($200 Mn) by ADIA, TPG and Brookfield for 9.09 per cent stake in UPL Sustainable Agri Solutions Limited (UPL SAS).

The fund inflow will be utilised towards committed debt reduction target of $500 Mn by the end of March’23. UPL SAS will be India’s largest ‘Integrated Agtech Platform’ and will include the India crop protection business, SWAL, Adarsh Farm Services and the Nurture digital platform.

UPL Ltd. is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products & solutions, with annual revenue exceeding US $6 billion. Through OpenAg, UPL is focused on facilitating progress for the entire agricultural value chain. We are building a network that redefines the way an entire industry thinks and works – open to fresh ideas, innovative ways, and new answers as we strive towards our mission to make every single food product more sustainable.

The fund inflow will be utilised towards

Company News, Dairy, Finance, India, Start ups

The company shall use this fund for new product development, infrastructure upgrades, deeper retail penetration, and digital transformation

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) dairy brand, Sid’s Farm has raised $1 million in a bridge round from its customers and their referrals. Being a bootstrapped enterprise driven by organic growth so far, this first fund raising from its high net-worth customers and their referrals is testimony to its brand credibility, superior quality, and unparalleled customer experience. The company shall use this fund for new product development, infrastructure upgrades, deeper retail penetration, and digital transformation in order to gear up for future trajectory.

Founded in 2016 by Dr Kishore Indukuri, Sid’s Farm has now become synonymous with pure milk and clean production. As a brand promise, Sid’s Farm is trying to revolutionise the testing of milk ensuring no traces of antibiotics, hormones, or preservatives in the milk and dairy products. With a model farm, state-of-the-art laboratory, and modern production facility at Chevella near Hyderabad, Sid’s Farm ensures that more than 15,000 customers wake up healthy every day.

The revenue of India’s organised dairy industry is expected to rebound a solid 12 percent year-on-year this fiscal to Rs 1.6 lakh crore. As per a report from Statista, online sale of milk has grown to 2.1 percent of organised milk sale in India from 0.5 percent in 2017.

The company shall use this fund for

Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

Cropin AI Labs is to bring predictive intelligence to every acre of the world’s cultivable land

Cropin, the global agritech pioneer that has built the world’s first industry cloud for agriculture, has secured Rs 113 crore in funding from new investors Google and JSR Corporation, as well as existing investors ABC Impact and Chiratae Ventures. The funds will aid in expanding Cropin Cloud, company’s recently launched intelligent agriculture cloud platform, to cater to the growing demand for digitisation and predictive intelligence in the global agriculture sector.

Cropin Cloud, launched in September 2022, has quickly become a leading platform in the digital transformation of agriculture. With the support of this funding round, Cropin will be able to further invest in its go-to-market efforts and expand the platform’s capabilities, including developing next-generation predictive intelligence solutions through Cropin AI Labs. The goal of Cropin AI Labs is to bring predictive intelligence to every acre of the world’s cultivable land. In addition, Cropin plans to expand its business presence in new regions and industries, focusing on creating solutions that promote sustainable agriculture practices and address global food security challenges on a large scale.

Commenting on the investment, Krishna Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, Cropin said, “Since its founding in 2010, Cropin has been dedicated to improving the intelligence of food production and maximizing value for all stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem. By making farms and harvests traceable, predictable, and sustainable, Cropin aims to transform how food is grown. The involvement of new strategic investors like Google and JSR Corporation, and the support of our existing investors, demonstrates confidence in our mission and impact. We are excited to partner with global technology innovators like Google, which further validates our capabilities and solidifies our position as a leader in the digitalization of global agriculture″.

Commenting on the development, Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman Chiratae Ventures India Advisors, said, “Cropin has always embodied these values, and they are poised to be the largest Agritech company globally with its cloud-based, SaaS business model. This investment underlines our strong belief in their growth and the impact they deliver to co-create a truly sustainable global agri-food ecosystem. ″

Cropin AI Labs is to bring predictive

Acquaculture, Company News, Finance, India

Aquaconnect will utilise the fresh funds to widen its service offerings in both the pre-harvest and post-harvest aquaculture value chain

Aquaconnect, a full-stack aquaculture platform announces that it has raised $15 million (Rs 120 crore) in a Series A funding round, led by Lok Capital, with participation from Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, Suneight Investment along with existing investors including Omnivore, Rebright Partners, Flourish Ventures, HATCH and other debt investors participated in the round. 

Aquaconnect will utilise the fresh funds to strengthen its portfolio of scalable solutions that use AI and Satellite remote sensing and widen its service offerings in both the pre-harvest and post-harvest aquaculture value chain (to input retailers, seafood buyers and other stakeholders). 

Aquaconnect aims to grow stronger in the pre-harvest chain by tripling its AquaPartners network to amplify the impact across India. Currently, the company has a network of 500+ AquaPartners (rural entrepreneurs who provide last-mile assistance), serving over 90,000+ fish and shrimp farmers. 

Commenting on the Series A fund round, Rajamanohar und,Somasundaram, Founder & CEO Aquaconnect,said, “We’ve added about 500 AquaPartners in the last 12 months and this phygital network has helped us scale phenomenally across 6 major aquaculture production states. In the next 12 months, we are set to triple our AquaPartners’ network across India and optimise our service offerings.”

In the post-harvest chain, the company aims to scale its seafood market linkage across domestic markets in India. Further, Aquaconnect plans to accelerate seafood exports to the top import markets like the US, China and Japan and capture a significant share in the blue protein segment, globally. 

“We have been operating our domestic market linkages & overseas exports under stealth. As our pilots have shown great success, our team is geared up to scale the success we have achieved and enhance our B2B offerings in the next 12-18 months”, added Rajmanohar Somasundaram.

“Aquaculture is a great means for smallholder farmers to enjoy significant upward economic mobility. While Aquaculture might seem like a niche Agtech space, it is the sunrise sector in India showing double-digit YoY growth with a $15 billion market opportunity. However, the industry is hampered by inefficiencies in the value chain and poses a huge scope for tech disruption. Yet its true potential is untapped. Aquaconnect, with its deep-tech intervention, has the potential to disrupt the Indian aquaculture value chain and emerge as a key player in the growing blue food segment. We are excited to be a part of Aquaconnect’s growth, while it chases its aspiring goals and scales its operations in the domestic and global markets” said Hari Krishnan, Partner, Lok Capital. 

“Next 12-18 months will be challenging and exciting at the same time, the fresh funds will help us to accelerate our efforts and strengthen tech capabilities and bring efficiency and transparency in the aquaculture value chain,” said Rajmanohar Somasundaram. In July last year, Aquaconnect had raised $4 million in a pre-Series A round from Rebright, Flourish ventures and AgFunder. 

Aquaconnect will utilise the fresh funds to

Agrotech, Finance, India, Start ups

To scale up agri trade under ‘Collect and Pay’ Model

New Delhi based agritech startup BharathKisan has announced that company has raised Rs100 crore from Grow Money Capital Pvt Ltd. The investment is a structured deal involving debt flow under collect and pay trade model, which is an exclusive proprietary product of BharathKisaan platform. Under BharathKisaan collect and pay model small, marginal farmers and FPO have access to all the buyer class of agri trade ecosystem like agriprocessors, general trade merchants, modern trade partners, direct to consumer brands and HoReca partners. BharathKisaan acts as price discovery platform among agri buyers and agri sellers with collect and pay model trade engagement. With Collect and Pay model; trade happens with certainty, this has given wings for all agri buyers, agri sellers especially farmers and FPO’s to trade at PAN India level, Praveen R Naidu, Founder of the startup said.

“At Grow Money Capital Private Limited we believe that easy and convenient credit for the common man is a cornerstone of today’s economy. Working with BharathKisaan we shall provide high quality service to a wide range of borrowers in a fair, affordable and most importantly safe manner for all involved. This capital shall stand as witness to transparent convenient and decision-based trade engagement among all the players in agri ecosystem associated with BharathKisaan platform,” said Manoj Bansal, Managing Director of Grow Money Capital Pvt Ltd.

BharatKisaan enables agri buyers and agri sellers with price discovery services, zero risk trade, zero cost warehouse rental solutions, zero cost warehouse finance solutions, forward contracts with direct-to-consumer labels.

“BharathKisaan also offers BNPL solutions to urban consumers, who can purchase directly from farmgate, with closed loop distribution network; BharathKisaan has enabled each farmer to distribute his/her product to urban consumers without the need of intermediatry,” said Vivek Narasimharaju, Chief Revenue Officer of BharathKisaan.

“We are excited about this debt capital, as it allows the trade for small, marginal farmers and FPO to go out and fetch the trade leads beyond their territory. With indecisive trade across multiple markets farmers refrain from entering new and broader markets, but with us they can be certain as trade is enabled under-price discovery along with collect and pay model where every buyer on the platform is validated with proof of funds,” said Patibandla Anand, Chief Finance Officer of BharathKisaan.

To scale up agri trade under 'Collect

Agrotech, Company News, Dairy, India, Start ups

To deploy fresh capital for geography expansion, strengthening tech stack and to grow the top line to 300 Cr

With a focus on the farmers pain of low milk yield and less profits, Mooofarm an Agtech company has launched‘Dairy as a Service (DaaS)’ full-stack platform where farmers can buy best breed cattle, access tele-health and balanced nutrition services to increase milk yield and get loans to buy dairy inputs. 

The Mooofarm app, downloaded by 1.4+ million farmers, is a dairy farm management application designed for ease of use by dairy farmers in their vernacular language making buying of inputs (Cattle Feed and Cattle) more reliable, access to veterinary services more convenient at the fingertips. It also gives farmers access to relevant dairy farming techniques where they can calculate costs and revenue, access real time solutions, view learning options to critical problems, and allow farm data to be available in one place. 

The distribution of these services to the end farmer is ensured by Mooosathi, a village level entrepreneur to provide last mile aggregation and servicing of demand. The company will utilise the fresh investment to further scale its operations in Rajasthan, Punjab & Haryana and also unlock its geographical footprint to Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra. Further Mooofarm targets to grow its MoooSathi base to 3000 and increase its revenue to Rs 300 crore by FY24.

Param Singh, Founder & CEO, Mooofarm, said, “We aim to utilise this Series A funding to further expand our operations nationally and strengthen our capacity to cater to the growing needs of our farmer communities. Our ability to combine a dairy farmer centric approach coupled with technology-driven processes and solid infrastructure, Mooofarm offers an integrated, efficient and scalable dairy management solution that connects all stakeholders along the value chain, making our platform indispensable to improve efficiency, yield and profits. “

To deploy fresh capital for geography expansion,

Company News, Finance, India, Start ups, Supply Chain

Assert AI to utilise the funds to expand into new markets and develop exclusive products for the agriculture industry.

 Arya.ag, India’s largest integrated grain commerce platform, has announced a strategic investment in computer vision-focused SaaS startup Assert AI. The development is part of Assert AI’s latest fund-raise amounting to $2 million and involved participation from Prashant Purker, Ex- MD & CEO of ICICI Venture, in his personal capacity.

Assert AI aims to utilize the funds to expand its presence overseas in the USA market and develop exclusive products for the agriculture industry. Computer Vision is rapidly assuming prime business consideration with the increasing demand for insights-driven digital images and videos.  This strategic investment aims to strengthen Arya.ag’s blockchain offerings and AI & deep tech vision for unprecedented visibility and assurance for its storage, financing, and commerce offerings.

Assert AI has already established itself as a formidable name in computer vision with offerings that include face recognition, object detection, weapon detection in high-risk areas, docks utilization, packet counting in warehouses, and safety gear detection, among others. Under this context, Assert AI aims to have a unique proposition in translating computer vision analytics into actionable business intelligence for businesses of all sizes.

On the development, Job Philip, Co-Founder, Assert AI commented, “Digitization and related proliferation of video, as well as other forms of the visual medium, is on an ever-increasing exponential curve. The need of the hour is to transform observations from these mediums into actionable business insights and ensure that this is executed in real-time. The latest round of funding furthers our resolve to continue pioneering innovation in the visual analytics landscape and expand its reach to large untapped segments, including agriculture.”

Prasanna Rao, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Arya.ag said, “At Arya.ag, we endeavour to digitize an otherwise conventional agri value chain. Tech-led computer vision ensures complete assurance for farmers, lenders, and buyers as they transact on our platform. Through our strategic investment in Assert AI, we aim to consolidate our AI & Blockchain offerings. This partnership will work towards conceptualising and innovating computer vision solutions specifically for the agricultural ecosystem.”

For Arya.ag, investment in Assert AI follows the startup’s recent move to acquire data science company, Prakshep, which consolidated the company’s deep tech capability to provide traceability, transparency, and quality assurance for seamless commodity commerce. Arya.ag is also in the advanced stages of introducing a first-of-its-kind public agri blockchain ledger in the country.

Assert AI to utilise the funds to

Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

The company aims to utilise the funds for their SNIPR Biologicals registrations and advancing the discovery platform

Tech-focused VC fund, Inflexor Ventures, is leading the Pre-Series A round of Rs 9 Crore in Agbiotech startup, BioPrime Agrisolutions (BioPrime). The current round of funding also saw participation from its existing investor, Omnivore. Inflexor has invested in 10 companies so far since November 2020, from its Fund II, companies including Atomberg, GramCover and Kale Logistics.

The company aims to utilise the funds for their SNIPR Biologicals registrations, advancing the discovery platform, building a strong IP portfolio, increasing production capabilities, and expansion.

“Bioprime works to transform the way we grow crops making food more nutritious, and residue-free while restoring soil health using cutting-edge technologies and approaches, always keeping sustainability at our core. At Bioprime we are focusing on discovering fundamental aspects of plant communication, developing novel biologicals based on trait-modifying microbes and physiology-modulating molecules.”, said Renuka, CEO of BioPrime Agrisolutions.

“We believe that the stellar founding team of BioPrime is well equipped to solve the complex food security problem brought to the forefront by climate change. The IP-led, high-throughput biomolecule discovery platform will facilitate faster market access. Such a technology platform fits well with Inflexor’s investing thesis of backing impactful, pure science companies from the Indian deep tech ecosystem.”, said Pratip Mazumdar, Partner at Inflexor Ventures.

“BioPrime is our first investment under the OmniX Bio initiative, which backs early-stage agrifood life science startups. We started OmniX Bio with the knowledge that innovations in agrifood life sciences can be the most effective weapon to combat climate change. BioPrime is an excellent example of an invention designed to improve human and planetary health alongside farmer incomes and we are delighted to back them” said Jinesh Shah, Partner at Omnivore Partners.

The company aims to utilise the funds