In its successful second edition, Krishi Mangal, a scale-up accelerator supported by Cisco India CSR and powered by Social Alpha, has supported seven Agri-tech start-ups that are solving challenges in agriculture and allied livelihoods, helping small and marginal farmers to be climate-resilient.
These start-ups, with the comprehensive support of the program, focused on scaling technologies for soil testing and rejuvenation, water and crop management, and allied services. Each start-up received a wide range of support, including grant funding, piloting opportunities, go-to-market assistance, fundraising guidance, technology refinement, and mentorship support from experts. By combining Social Alpha’s innovation curation approach with Cisco’s technological expertise, these start-ups have successfully deployed technologies to support farmers.
The accelerator program was launched in 2021 and has supported 12 start-ups since its inception. To date, it has enabled more than 40,000 small and marginal farmers by bringing access to technology and improving their income, as well as supporting the local economy by generating more than 1,000 jobs.
(L to R) Shruti Kannan, Ganesh Neelam, Nagaraj Subramanya, Vishal Aman, Yukti Gill during a panel discussion
The cohort of the second edition includes the following start-ups:
Animeta Agritech uses a digitised end-to-end animal healthcare platform providing instant aid 24/7 through its disease-diagnosing chatbot and a connected platform for ethnoveterinary products. During the last 12 months, the Animeta team has enhanced their farmer’s reach by setting up 10 clusters in Tamil Nadu, each cluster comprising of 100-150 villages. This has helped them to increase their sales five times during the year.
Capsber Global Agro improves crop yields and food security by leveraging the potential of the microbiome, which results in a decreased carbon footprint and mitigates soil erosion. With the program’s support, Capsber is able to increase product adaptability with farmers while setting up six clusters in Karnataka.
Dharaksha Ecosolutions created a biotechnology process that converts crop stubble waste into biodegradable packaging material, replacing thermocol. With the support of the program, Dharasha has designed and commissioned an automatic machine, thus reducing manual work and scaling production capacity by 10 times.
Mivipro Products Private Limited developed Herboliv+, a bio-liquid made from botanical extracts and natural ingredients. It effectively masks the crop’s odor and renders it unappetizing for wild animals. The program has supported Mivipro to enhance their customer’s reach by setting up clusters in Uttar Pradesh and building B2B channels in three more states.
Niyo Farm Tech has designed small, user-friendly sprayers to reduce drudgery and improve yields. During the last 12 months in the program, they have scaled their model by trying out multiple sales channels like the dealership model, field demonstrations for farmers, using social media for lead generation and digital marketing, while scaling the ones that generated better sales.
Proximal Soilsens has built the world’s tiniest, repeatable, and user-friendly soil testing system, ‘NutriSens,’ to provide accurate, quick soil test results. With the program’s support, Soilsens has scaled its operations in Maharashtra by building B2B channel partners and enhancing their ground reach with a micro-entrepreneurship model.
Urdhavam Environmental Technologies have developed a smart patented borewell recharging technique – Borecharger, to revive borewells. The program has supported them to build new markets, i.e., selling Borecharger as a service to the farmers with trials in selected districts of Maharashtra, while also supporting them in technology improvement.
The event was attended by Ganesh Neelam (ED, CInI), Nagaraj Subrahmanya (CRO, Avanti Finance), Vishal Aman (VP Investments, Ankur Capital), Yukti Gill (Managing Director, Satyukt), Rajesh Ranjan (Former CEO, NABVENTURES), Emmanuel Murray (Investment Director, Caspian), and Harish Krishnan (MD & Chief Policy Officer, Cisco) in Bangalore.
Krishi Mangal second edition cohort
Talking about the program Harish Krishnan, Managing Director & Chief Policy Officer, Cisco India, said, “With over 70% of India’s population relying on agriculture, improving farm productivity is crucial for national growth and prosperity, a priority highlighted in recent elections. At Cisco, our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all. Krishi Mangal, our deep tech accelerator program in collaboration with Social Alpha, exemplifies our commitment to supporting small and marginal farmers with technology and innovation, revolutionizing farming practices, making them more profitable and sustainable. We are proud of the Agri-tech startups identified through Krishi Mangal and are dedicated to helping them develop products, enhance value propositions, localize solutions, and scale their organizations. Through Krishi Mangal 2.0, we aim to invest in further technology-led innovations to build climate-resilient agricultural practices, significantly improving the lives of marginal farmers and boosting agricultural productivity and climate resilience.”
Rajesh Ranjan, Manoj Kumar, Emmanuel Murray
While addressing stakeholders Manoj Kumar, Founder, Social Alpha said “Smallholder farmers are severely impacted by climate change. They frequently face extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, which damage crops and reduce yields. Water scarcity and soil degradation further threaten their productivity. These farmers often lack the resources and infrastructure to adapt, making them vulnerable to income loss and food insecurity. The unpredictable weather exacerbates their challenges, creating an unstable farming environment and jeopardising their livelihoods. Innovations in climate adaptation are essential for proactively addressing the impact of climate change and enhancing resilience among these vulnerable communities.”
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