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A.D. In 2014, Akurt Unahalekaka, an engineering and management student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed developing mobile devices to increase the income of small-scale farmers in his native Thailand.
Growing up in an agricultural family in Thailand, Unahalekaka saw how small farmers were affected by issues such as low productivity, high supply chain disruption, lack of funding, lack of market access, and exploitation. Brokers.
“Most farmers are losing money from time to time, and most of them are too old to know that they are losing money. They are getting older and older, which is a structural issue that is affecting almost half of the country’s population, ”said Unahalekaka. CASIA
Although more than 30 percent of Thailand’s workforce is employed in the agricultural sector, it accounts for only 10% of Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to the United Nations. Income below 32,000 THB ($ 1,069 US) below the country’s poverty line.
There are many forces working on Thai farmers, some natural and some man-made. “Without innovation, farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate-related issues such as rain and drought. Farmers find it very difficult to get loans from commercial banks because most of them do not have income statements or monthly salaries. They have no opportunity to enter the market to sell their products, ”said Unahalekaka.
Smallholder farmers generally have difficulty accessing regional and international markets because they often have limited information, which helps them make key decisions such as setting fair prices for their crops. Also, many farmers are in debt, or may be forced to sell their produce to brokers who can run a business.
At MIT, in the same development venture, Unhalekaka met Pakistan’s Osman Javid and saw him struggling with farmers in his own country. The two met in 2015 in Ricult. Just a year later, Jonathan Stoler, a former computer science graduate who previously worked for Google and Microsoft, and Gabriel Torres, two former MIT students who worked for the US Hedge Fund, have joined.
In March 2016, they began selling seeds and fertilizers to local farmers in Pakistan. In October 2017, four months after the launch of the mobile app, the company launched a trial run in Thailand. Fast-forward Ricklet has served more than 304,800 farmers in Thailand and Pakistan.
The start-up business model focuses on collecting data from a small number of small farmers scattered across the country and selling it to agricultural stakeholders. This fills in the blanks – strategic and informative information about farms and farmers is generally not available.
Ricult does this in two ways. Provides a free app for farmers that provides satellite imagery with information such as weather forecasting and monitoring, crop performance advice and remote crop monitoring. In response, farmers using the mouth must record the farm’s GPS coordinates, some personal information, the type of crop they are cultivating, soil quality, and fertilizer application.
After compiling the data, Ricult generates credit results for farmers that demonstrate their ability to repay loans. Meanwhile, the company sells the information to banks, lenders, insurers, agricultural inputs, forestry companies or other agribusiness companies so that it can calculate the risk or more accurately predict agricultural output.
The application connects farmers to the digital marketplace where they can buy seeds, fertilizers and pesticides directly from international organizations. It also creates new business relationships by linking farmers with processors to buyers.
Unahalekaka reaffirmed the company’s compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Act, BE 2562 and PDA, in order to prevent misuse and collection in the country.
Most of the company’s revenue comes from selling the information to banks and large agricultural companies. It also charges a commission for products listed on the mobile app. Ads on the app provide additional revenue.
Ricult is unique in the region. “We, like the Bloomberg Terminal, are helping agricultural companies monitor and predict crop productivity,” said Unahalekaka.
The expansion of the Reich business model has attracted the attention of investors. In August last year, the company received $ 2 million in the first round, bringing the total seed fund to $ 5 million. The company had planned to invest in new capital by expanding and expanding to neighboring countries, including Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia, but the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19 have pinned those plans.
He decided to focus on Pakistan and Thailand, which still have a place to grow, said Unahalekaka. “The agricultural sector in Thailand is large, and we account for only 5% of the market.
The company showed a 500% growth last year, although Unahalekaka did not disclose its revenue.
In the near future, Ricult expects to close a $ 5 million fundraiser in the first quarter of 2022, which could take the company to new locations in Southeast Asia. “We hope to grow our farmland to 3 million in the next three years and expand to neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam.
This article is part of a series of KrASIA “Startup Stories” in which KrASIA writers talk to their founders. Technology companies in South and Southeast Asia.
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