Aibono Smart Farming Pvt. Ltd, which offers an artificial intelligence-powered fresh food aggregation platform, has raised $2 million (Rs 14.6 crore) in fresh capital.
The funding was raised from venture capital firm Rebright Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital and Lesing Artha, a subsidiary of Rianta Capital.
The company will use the funds to grow its business, The Press Trust of India reported, citing Aibono founder and IIT Madras graduate Vivek Rajkumar.
Aibono began operations in 2014 by offering AI-powered precision farming solutions to help farmers use analytics, Internet of Things and data science to improve yield.
The company has since expanded its offerings to sync precision farming with real-time demand and just-in-time harvesting. The solution synchronises cropping matrix and predictive harvesting at the farm with retailer consumption data.
Aibono claims this seed-to-plate approach will mitigate the risk of high perishability of fresh farm produce and help farmers get better prices and reduce wastage.
Rajkumar said that Aibono has brought on board 1,000 farmers and is selling to about 800 retailers.
In March last year, Aibono had raised $2.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by social-impact investor Menterra Venture Advisors. Rebright Partners and Rianta Capital, among others, had also participated in that funding round.
Deals in the agri-tech space
Several startups operating in the agri-tech space have raised funding in recent months.
Last month, BigHaat Agro Pvt. Ltd, which operates an online agricultural inputs platform, secured more than $2 million in a pre-Series A funding round.
In June, Delhi-based Concinnity Agro2o Pvt. Ltd mobilised funding from the Mumbai Angels Network. The startup focuses on making hydroponics-based farming accessible to both small farmers and commercial institutions.
In May, poultry farming startup Eggoz raised Rs 2.5 crore from a clutch of investors including Tracxn Labs, Angellist, Tri-Deep Capital and founders of LetsTransport.
Also in May, artificial intelligence-focused agri-tech startup Intello Labs Pvt. Ltd announced a Rs 45 crore Series A funding round led by new investor Saama Capital.
Before that, in April, dairy products company UzhavarBumi Agro Products Pvt. Ltd raised Rs 1.7 crore from Native Angels Network, the investment arm of Tier-II and Tier-III focused Nativelead.
