Companies such as SunCulture, who raised a $14.0 million USD Series A round led by Energy Access Ventures in December 2020, use artificial intelligence and IoT technology to support intelligent irrigation systems. Likewise, SwiftVEE, a South Africa-based AI-powered AgTech raised a $1.5 million USD Series A led by Subtropico to support the expansion of the livestock auction service. These services are both solving critical challenges related to productivity, and access to market working alongside farmers and agribusinesses.
In a recent Baobab Insights report, Nneile Nkholise, co-founder of 3DIMO, an AI-powered AgTech explains why the technology is so important; “we are building a Facebook for animals around the world. Our aim is to build an extensive database of information on animal health, allowing for us to track trends in disease outbreak and to trace animal ownership.”
The 3DIMO team use biometrics and artificial intelligence to detect disease as well as provide a unique identifier for each animal, Nneile goes on to explain, “We want to create transparency and provide rich data insights in an industry that has mostly been fragmented”.
In Africa, AgTech solutions need to work across complex value chains and in a variety of settings. And while global challenges such as food security, deforestation and climate change will continue to make headlines, for AgTech founders solving these, begins with putting powerful tools in the hands of the farmer.