RML AgTech raises $4 mn from existing investor IvyCap Ventures

Mumbai-based RML AgTech Pvt. Ltd, which provides support services to farmers via mobile phones, has raised $4 million (Rs 27.2 crore) from existing investor IvyCap Ventures.

The technology firm will use the funds to strengthen its IT backbone and introduce new products and features, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The funding was raised in multiple tranches from IvyCap Ventures in 2016, the press note added.

"We believe with the increased penetration of smartphones in rural areas and the push given by the government to go digital, accessibility of our products to farmers will see significant growth over the next two to five years. Upgrading technology in agriculture will help double farmer income by 2022," said Rajiv Tevtiya, managing partner and chief executive of RML AgTech, in the statement.

Founded in 2007, RML AgTech provides customised smart farming solutions to enhance crop productivity and earnings of the farmers. The company says it has developed app-based solutions for every stage of farming, starting from soil testing, what to grow, how to grow, where and when to sell for agriculturists.

Its services are accessible on smartphones in a personalised manner complemented with multiple languages and on-call service. The company is currently present in 16 states in India.

RML AgTech—previously known as Reuters Market Light Ltd, a subsidiary of mass media and news information firm Thomson Reuters—had secured investment from IvyCap Ventures in February 2013.

IvyCap Ventures is an early-to-growth-stage venture capital firm which backs startups floated by alumni of top engineering and management institutions such as IITs and IIMs in the country. In March 2016, FTCash, a mobile payments platform for micro merchants in India, has raised $150,000 (around Rs 1 crore) in pre-Series A funding from the VC firm through the IvyCamp platform.

IvyCap Ventures has also backed firms such as Aujas Networks, FieldEz Solutions, Vinculum, E-Shakti, Leixir Labs, Purplle.com, Sokrati, Bluestone and Clovia, among others.