2030 Finance | October 21, 2018

Ignitia secures early funding to alert smallholder farmers to weather changes

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, October 22 – Swedish startup Ignitia has raised $1.1 million from three investors for its SMS-based weather service for smallholder farmers. San Francisco-based venture capital firm Hack VC led the round, which included participation from FINCA Ventures and the Norrsken Foundation.

Ignitia partners with telecom companies to gather satellite data that it then uses to produce “hyper-local” tropical weather forecasting. It sends the forecasts and information to smallholder farmers via SMS. Ignitia’s goal is to help the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers increase productivity and yield by making more informed farming decisions.

Ignitia currently has 450,000 subscribers in Ghana, Nigeria, and Mali. The investment capital will be used for expansion in Nigeria.