September 28, 2016

Bangalore, India-based farm management software company CropIn Technology Solutions recently raised $2 million in Series A funding in an investment round led by Denmark-based Sophia Investment ApS. Utilizing data analytics, cloud computing, and mobile apps, CropIn’s mission is to help farmers “increase value per acre” and “make every farm traceable.”

CropIn products provide solutions across the ag value chain. Its “SmartFarm” platform allows its users to increase yield per acre by providing pest and disease tracking and weather tracking, while also managing scheduling based on sowing rates.

Currently used on more than one million acres across five countries, with a 92% customer retention across its product range, CropIn’s “SmartSales” and “MWarehouse” products allow for mobile management and tracking of storage and sales of agricultural products, as the company’s “Crop Analytics” package allows for more sophisticated analysis and forecasting farm productivity through big data analytics.

The new funding, coupled with funding received earlier this year from U.S.-based Invested Development, will enhance the scalability of the company allowing it to enter new markets. In the next three years, Cropin CEO Krishna Kumar plans for the company to, “invest $15 to $20 million to bring cutting-edge technology for every acre of farm and provide access of it to every farmer possible.”

Like other regions in the world, interest in crop management software in India is increasing, estimated to be growing at over 17% annually. India-focused VC-firm Omnivore Partners, a leader in the Indian Agtech space, currently has several Indian farm & agribusiness software companies in its portfolio, including Skymet, Frontalrain, Stellaps, Eruvaka, and Retigence.

Globally, precision ag software startups raised $92 million in the first half of 2016, up from $72 million in 2015, according to AgFunder. Despite this, the sector is still in its infancy, likened by some as, “the internet in the 1990’s.” The space is currently crowded by hundreds of small startups trying to solve overlapping issues framed in slightly different ways, as this non-exhaustive list of 140 “top farm management products,” shows.

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Eric Francucci