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Agriculture tech solutions provider RML AgTech has raised about $4 million (₹26 crore) in multiple tranches from venture capital firm IvyCap Ventures. The company, which provides agriculture related decisions and support to farmers on mobile phones, would utilise the funds to strengthen its IT infrastructure and bring in new products and features on its current offerings.
Rajiv Tevtiya, Managing Partner and CEO, RML AgTech, said, “We believe, with the increased reach of smart phones in the rural area and the push given by the government to go digital, accessibility of our products to farmers will see significant growth over the next 2-5 years. Upgrading of technology in agriculture sector will also boost farmer income and help achieve the vision of doubling their income by 2022, as laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
RML’s solutions, especially through data analytics, help farmers across 16 States in taking steps or decisions that would help enhance crop productivity and also their earnings, the company said adding that it has developed app-based solutions for every stage of farming, starting from soil testing, what to grow, how to grow, where and when to sell for agriculturists. The services are easily accessible on smart phones in a personalised manner complemented with multiple languages and on-call service, it added.
Vikram Gupta, Founder and Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures, said, “The agriculture sector in India today stands at an inflection point where food security for future India will be determined. And it is the agri-tech sector that has the potential to address the challenges we face today. We found the product and strategy model of RML AgTech to principally to address these concerns and hence a huge potential for the time to come.”
The current agritech industry in India is worth over ₹10,000 crore covering essential inputs of agriculture such as seeds, fertilisers, agriculture implements and pesticides, amongst others. Although it is not as popular as the service sector in the urban centres, it constitutes a majority share in the rural market that is highly dependent on agriculture.
With agriculture considered as the backbone of Indian economy, the industry is poised to grow as the government is offering maximum support to the sector and the manufacturers of agri-inputs to increase the quality of the products by investing in research and development and also helping the farmers to mitigate natural calamities like drought, irregular monsoon or flood.
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