Artificial intelligence and data-based agritech startup firm CropIn successfully raised $20 million in its recent bid during the Series C investment round. The new investment round brings the startup’s total funding to $33.1 million, reports Business Standard.
CropIn is an agricultural and artificial intelligence-based startup based in Bangalore, India. According to Bloomberg, the firm offers a software-as-a-service (SAAS) that provides farms and other similar organizations access to more efficient ways of predicting the efficiency and sustainability of crops.
Founded in 2010, CropIn founders Chittaranjan Hena, Krishna Kumar, and Kunal Prasad’s company mainly rely on SmartFarm, a precision farming platform that makes predictive analytics based on its machine learning-based capabilities, shares Inc42.
More than providing information on the productivity and sustainability of crops, Business Standard states that this startup also provides agricultural businesses and farmers alike to keep up with the strict standards of food safety.
It has since partnered with merchants from over 50 countries. These include Syngenta Corp. in Basel, McCain Foods Ltd. in Canada, the World Bank, and BASF SE from Germany, states Bloomberg.
The Series C investment round was led by ABC World Asia, which is backed by Temasek Holdings Pte. Other existing investors also took part in the funding round. This includes Ankur Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Invested Development.
New investors also joined the Series C funding round. These include billionaire Infosys Ltd. co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan’s family office, Pratithi Investment Trust, as well as CDC Group. It is also backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as VC BeeNext from Singapore.
Following the capital injection, CropIn reportedly plans to use its funding towards expanding on a wider scale, targetting global movement. At the same time, Business Standard reveals that the AI and agritech company aims to double down on its machine-learning analytics platform called SmartRisk.
The SmartRisk platform works by leveraging deep learning algorithms as well as computer vision.
According to Inc42, the SmartRisk platform allows banks, financial institutions, and insurance providers to make decisions in a more knowledgeable and informed manner. At the same time, it functions by analyzing 388 crops across 9,500 variants, allowing for a more accurate analysis of farm data.
In a statement, chief executive officer Krishna Kumar said, “To improve yields, optimise production and improve resilience and sustainability, agri-businesses are increasingly relying on innovative agri-tech solutions like artificial intelligence, data analytics, and the Internet of things.”
“We, at CropIn, are excited to advance the AI-Culture’ for Agriculture,” said Kumar.
