STARTUP SPECIAL
Social Enterprise
The Aibono
Story: As You Sow, So Shall You Reap
Aibono's technology
has helped farmers go digital and increase yields
Social Enterprise
Aibono Vivek Rajkumar
Aibono Vivek Rajkumar
The combination of agriculture and technology, which
encapsulates the business model of Aibono helped the startup win top honours in
the Social Enterprise category at The Economic Times Startup Awards 2017.
The agritech company , which provides farm-related intelligence,
technology, expertise and gadgets to farmers, claims to have helped increase
yields by nearly 50 % for some 140 farmers it works with in the Nilgiri hills
in Tamil Nadu.
“Winning the Social Enterprise award makes a huge difference to
the team. We hope to stand for making agriculture cool and getting more
youngsters involved,“ said Vivek Rajkumar, founder of Aibono, which has bagged
funding from a roster of Silicon Valley and India-based investors.
The IIT-Madras graduate reckons the biggest challenge for his
company--first launched as Airwood Aerostructures before being recast as
Aibono--is convincing farmers to make use of internet-shared services. “We had
to initially pick up a couple of farms and work there for about six to eight
months to show them the impact,“ said the 29-year-old. The company helps small
farmers gain from economies of scale by sharing resources and expertise. The
startup also advises farmers on the right amount of inputs to use for maximum
yield. It helps maximise earning through a success-fee model, charging farmers
for every kilogram of yield they harvest.
“We have put together a model that is on the cloud and on the
ground, through field agents that help the farmers go digital,“ said Rajkumar
who estimates that 85% of Indian farmers have land that is not more than two
acres in size. Some 200 million such farmers struggle to improve yield because
of lack of technological knowhow and market access.
Avnish Bajaj, managing director Matrix Partners India, who was a
member of the jury which picked Aibono said, “What tipped it for me is that
usually farmers don't get the best prices and this startup provides that.“
Jul 24 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
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