Argentine startups Satellogic and Kilimo to expand into India

Contxto – Two Argentine startups transforming the vertical farming market will be collaborating with an Indian corporation after attending the 27th Congress of the Argentine Association of Producers in Direct Sowing (Aapresid) last week in Argentina. 

Among the diverse conferences about public policy and private initiatives such as direct sowing, the non-profit organization discussed alarming rates of soil erosion in Argentina and elsewhere throughout the world. 

Thankfully, tech startups are finding solutions to many of the issues this association is trying to alleviate. To promote global solutions, Indian seed and agrochemical firm UPL collaborated with Argentina’s Secretary of Entrepreneurs and SMEs (Sepyme). 

As cities like Chennai virtually run out of water, they selected two startups to bring their solutions to India. Focusing on monitoring the Indian countryside, these were the nanosatellite company Satellogic and the agrotech Kilimo. 

Winning duo

According to Diego López Casanello, global executive director of UPL, the corporation is bringing Satellogic and Kilimo to India. Although it is unclear exactly how, we’re still scooping for more information. 

“We can prove Argentina doesn’t only export grains,” said López Casanello.

After a selection process involving over 200 Argentine startups, and with Sepyme’s support, the two startups will be able to implement their tech proposals to solve some of the water problems India faces, whether oversupply or scarcity. 

Kilimo is an agrotech startup leveraging big data and periodic soil analysis to provide recommendations and insights on irrigation for crops, tailored to every batch. Expert agents are also available through the platform to support farmers in their production. 

Users have saved more than 6 trillion liters of water over the 60,000 hectares it monitors. Currently, it operates throughout Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, as well as the United States. 

On the other hand, Satellogic provides geospatial data services with its nanosatellites orbiting Earth. With affordable and frequent data, the company offers its services to a variety of industries. These include agriculture, finance, insurance, energy, among others. 

Working with agro experts, its internal AI and data science team members provide valuable insights to customers. In turn, this helps partners improve efficiency and productivity in their harvest.

Door to Southeast Asia

This is definitely newsworthy. Not many Latin American startups have jumped out of the region. If they ever leave at all, it is mostly either to Europe or the United States. Asia represents a huge market, and even Southeast Asia shares many similar challenges as Latin America. 

“If we manage to understand the Indian market and offer it our products, it is a door to reach the entire Southeast Asia region,” said Rodrigo Ramírez, General Manager of UPL in Argentina.

Considering these two as role models for the ecosystem, it will be interesting to observe and track in the upcoming months if more Latin American startups decide to venture eastward.

-VC