CAMEROON – Promagric, an agtech solution provider based in Cameroon has initiated a fundraising campaign aimed at raising XAF115 million (US$207k).
The start-up seeks to acquire the funding to enable it mass produce its soil analysis kits, reports Business in Cameroon.
Already adopted by more than a thousand African farmers, the smartphone-based technological solution called ClinicAgro uses BigData technologies, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to instantly deliver soil and plant analysis results to users.
“We have orders in Cameroon, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire that we cannot fulfil. To date, we need to invest 115 million FCFA to mass produce our connected soil analysis kits, in order to market them to agricultural companies, agricultural engineers and farmers, to help them reduce their agricultural losses,” said Pyrrus Koudjou, promoter of the startup.
The application developed in six languages has been available on Play Store since the end of December 2019, and is currently used by 1,200 farmers spread across Africa.
In 2019, this innovation caught the attention of the jury of the Med’Innovant Africa competition and selected among the five finalists of the competition organized by Euroméditerranée, a firm specializing in fittings.
“We need to invest 115 million FCFA (US$207K) to mass produce our connected soil analysis kits, in order to market them to agricultural companies, agricultural engineers and farmers, to help them reduce their agricultural losses.”
Pyrrus Koudjou – Promoter of Promagric
Recently, the Mauritius Chemical and Fertilizer Industry (MCFI), one of Africa’s oldest fertilizer manufacturer, and Lentera Africa, a Kenyan AgriTech company, signed a partnership that will see Lentera provide satellite-based crop health analysis and crop modelling services for Mauritian customers of MCFI.
MCFI has been the market leader in the manufacture and distribution of high quality, affordable fertilizer to farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa.
This new offering is part of the strategy to deliver cutting edge technology for today’s farmer.
With the partnership, farmers will get access to weekly crop health satellite images, soil moisture analysis and on-demand hyper-localized weather forecast service that will be delivered via a mobile application.
The collaboration will start with sugar cane and cereals growers in Mauritius before scaling up to more customers in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Lentera started as a soil health and crop nutrition company, formulating and manufacturing a range of organic fertilisers.
But after serving thousands of farmers across the country, it realised that in addition to high quality inputs, farmers also needed advice on subjects such as what crops to plant, when to plant them, when to irrigate, and when to scout for pests and diseases.
In response to this, they launched their precision agriculture services, that offer farm software, weather sensors, drone and satellite imaging as well as automated advisory services on market conditions.
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