Agritech Startup Digicides eyeing to raise $2.5-3 million from Omnivore & Indigram Labs
Agritech startup Digicides is in talks to raise $2.5-3 million in seed funding from agriculture-focused investors such as Omnivore and Indigram Labs.
Digicides, founded in 2017 by Dipanjan Dean Dutta and Saswati Bag, is a rural-first content platform through which organisations send agri-related information to farmers via text messages, WhatsApp, and phone calls. It has a suite of products that enable organisations to communicate with farmers and send them product, weather, or market information.
The platform also aids in the provision of educational training to the 16 million farmers reached by Digicides over the last four years. According to the company, it has 57 large clients in the rural-focused fertilizer, seed, crop protection, and FMCG industries.
“Around 120-plus small and mid-segment regional companies also use the platform to do hyperlocal, targeted communication with the farmers,” said Dutta, who is also the chief executive of the company. He refused to share details of the planned fundraising.
Emails to Omnivore and Indigram went unanswered as of the publication of this storey.
The Pandemic of Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption in rural and semi-urban markets. In the last year, consumption in Tier II and Tier III towns has skyrocketed.
In the last year, consumption in Tier II and Tier III towns has skyrocketed. “One of our products—DigiNews—saw huge adoption and applause from the agri industry, with over 1.1 crore farmers reaching out via the platform. Training sessions were imparted to them by various organisations and the government at regular intervals,” Dutta said.
With agriculture providing a living for more than 58 percent of the country's population, India has seen an explosion in the agritech startup ecosystem. More than 1,000 businesses have been established to address the sector's unmet needs.
According to a December 2020 report from venture capital firms Accel and Omnivore, smartphone penetration in rural India increased from 9 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in 2018, representing a 35 percent year-on-year increase.
According to the report titled ‘Post-Covid Landscape in India,' over 30 million farmers now use smartphones, making it easier to communicate with them and collect real-time data from the ground.
Digicides, founded in 2017 by Dipanjan Dean Dutta and Saswati Bag, is a rural-first content platform through which organisations send agri-related information to farmers via text messages, WhatsApp, and phone calls. It has a suite of products that enable organisations to communicate with farmers and send them product, weather, or market information.
The platform also aids in the provision of educational training to the 16 million farmers reached by Digicides over the last four years. According to the company, it has 57 large clients in the rural-focused fertilizer, seed, crop protection, and FMCG industries.
“Around 120-plus small and mid-segment regional companies also use the platform to do hyperlocal, targeted communication with the farmers,” said Dutta, who is also the chief executive of the company. He refused to share details of the planned fundraising.
Emails to Omnivore and Indigram went unanswered as of the publication of this storey.
The Pandemic of Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption in rural and semi-urban markets. In the last year, consumption in Tier II and Tier III towns has skyrocketed.
In the last year, consumption in Tier II and Tier III towns has skyrocketed. “One of our products—DigiNews—saw huge adoption and applause from the agri industry, with over 1.1 crore farmers reaching out via the platform. Training sessions were imparted to them by various organisations and the government at regular intervals,” Dutta said.
With agriculture providing a living for more than 58 percent of the country's population, India has seen an explosion in the agritech startup ecosystem. More than 1,000 businesses have been established to address the sector's unmet needs.
According to a December 2020 report from venture capital firms Accel and Omnivore, smartphone penetration in rural India increased from 9 percent in 2015 to 25 percent in 2018, representing a 35 percent year-on-year increase.
According to the report titled ‘Post-Covid Landscape in India,' over 30 million farmers now use smartphones, making it easier to communicate with them and collect real-time data from the ground.
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