Mitti Labs Uses AI to Improve Rice Farming in Asia

Amid climate change and shrinking water resources, climate-tech startup Mitti Labs, headquartered in New York and Bengaluru, has raised $9.5 million in a Series A round. According to ixbt.com, the funding round was led by Aramco Ventures, the venture arm of Saudi Aramco, marking the energy giant’s first investment in an Indian startup. TechCrunch.com reports this.

Although rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, growing it requires large amounts of water, and permanently flooded fields account for a significant share of agricultural methane emissions. In recent years, rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns have placed serious pressure on Asia’s water-intensive rice sector.

AI and Satellite Technologies

Mitti Labs, which launched its programs in 2023, is working to address these challenges with a platform that combines satellite radar imagery with field data collected over many years. In an interview with TechCrunch, startup co-founder Xavier Laguarta said the technology creates digital twins of every rice field, enabling remote monitoring of crop health, water use and methane emissions across thousands of small farms.

Mitti Labs’ GeoAI platform uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from commercial and government satellites, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters. The startup’s main advantage lies not in the satellite imagery itself, but in its proprietary databases used to train AI models, enabling precise monitoring of soil moisture and crop growth.

Expansion and Expected Results

According to the latest funding information, Mitti Labs has raised a total of $12.5 million to date, including a $3 million seed round completed in July 2024. The company now has more than 150 employees, most of whom operate in India, helping local organizations and farmers implement alternative irrigation practices.

The startup began operations with approximately 8,000 farmers during its first season in 2024 and has reached more than 100,000 farmers across several Indian states this season. Xavier Laguarta said the company aims to reach millions of smallholder farmers by 2030. Participating farmers are switching to alternative irrigation methods that reduce water use by approximately 40% and methane emissions by more than 50%.

Revenue Sources and Partners

Mitti Labs generates revenue from carbon credits and its GeoAI platform. Its customers include the Cool Effect carbon marketplace, which works with major corporations such as Google and American Airlines, as well as rice producer Ebro Foods and agricultural company Syngenta. They use this data to improve water sustainability across their supply chains.

Aramco Ventures’ investment could give the startup new opportunities to leverage connections in carbon markets and potentially partner with the Saudi Arabian energy giant in the future. Other investors in the Series A round reportedly include Lightpeed India, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco, Francis Family Fund and Volta Circle.