Mitti Labs Raises $9.5 Million to Transform Rice Farming with AI and Satellite Technology
In a significant boost for climate-tech innovation in India, Bengaluru and New York-based deep-tech startup Mitti Labs has raised $9.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Aramco Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco. The round also saw participation from existing backer Lightspeed India, alongside new investors including Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund, and Volta Circle.
This investment marks Aramco Ventures’ first investment in an Indian startup, and brings Mitti Labs’ total funding to **$12.5 million**, following a $3 million seed round in July 2024.
The Challenge: Rice Farming’s Climate Footprint
Rice is the staple food for more than half the world’s population, but it comes with a significant environmental cost. The crop is one of the most water-intensive to grow, and rice fields kept under continuous flooding account for a substantial share of agricultural methane emissions. Agriculture contributes approximately 9-12% of global methane output—equivalent to the entire aviation industry.
With rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns putting Asia’s water-intensive rice farming under increasing pressure, the need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent.
“Growing more rice with less water is one of the world’s major challenges. Demand for rice continues to grow, but record heat and changing rainfall patterns are threatening water systems and endangering food security.” — Xavier Laguarta, Co-founder, Mitti Labs
The Solution: GeoAI and Digital Twins
Mitti Labs has developed an end-to-end framework that combines satellite technology, artificial intelligence, and field operations to permanently reduce methane emissions from rice farming.
How the technology works:
- GeoAI Platform: The platform fuses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from commercial and public satellites with years of field data collected by its teams.
- Digital Twins: The technology creates digital twins of individual rice fields, allowing for remote monitoring of crop conditions, water use, and methane emissions across thousands of smallholder farms.
- Proprietary Datasets: The startup’s competitive edge lies not in the satellite imagery itself, but in the proprietary datasets it has built to train its AI models.
- Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD): Farmers adopt this climate-smart irrigation practice, which reduces water use by approximately 40% and methane emissions by more than 50% without affecting yields.
Impact: From 8,000 to 100,000 Farmers
Since launching its first programs in 2023, Mitti Labs has scaled rapidly:
| Metric | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Farmers Reached | ~8,000 | 100,000+ |
| Employees | — | 150+ |
| Water Saved | — | 500 billion litres |
| Projects | 5 | 10+ in pipeline |
| States Covered | — | 6 across India |
| Hectares Covered | — | 70,000+ |
The startup now works with more than 100,000 farmers across multiple Indian states, with a target of reaching millions of smallholder farmers by 2030. Its projects in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have received an ‘A’ rating from carbon credit ratings agency Sylvera.
Farmer Benefits:
- Up to 15% improvement in bottom-line income
- Additional revenue stream from carbon credits
- Adoption of sustainable practices without yield loss
The Business Model: Carbon Credits and Data Analytics
Mitti Labs generates revenue through two primary channels:
- Carbon Credits: The company verifies emission reductions from sustainable farming practices and converts them into high-integrity carbon credits, which are sold to corporations pursuing net-zero goals.
- GeoAI Platform: The startup provides data and analytics to agricultural companies improving water resilience across their supply chains.
Key Customers:
- Cool Effect: Carbon marketplace working with Google and American Airlines
- Ebro Foods: Rice producer
- Syngenta: Agricultural company
The Founding Team
Mitti Labs was founded in 2023 by three visionaries:
- Xavier Laguarta: Harvard Business School graduate, brings expertise in scaling climate-tech ventures
- Devdut Dalal: Cambridge University and Harvard Business School alumnus with a background in agriculture and sustainability
- Nate Torbick: Technical expert in remote sensing and geospatial analysis
The founding team’s diverse expertise—spanning business, sustainability, and technology—has been instrumental in building a solution that bridges cutting-edge science with on-the-ground reality.
What’s Next: Expansion Across Asia
With the fresh capital, Mitti Labs plans to:
- Deepen presence across India’s rice belt
- Launch new projects in the Philippines and Indonesia
- Scale its GeoAI platform to reach more farmers
- Continue building its team of 150+ employees, most based in India
“With our technology and scalable operational model, we can transform how rice is grown, lower emissions and cut water consumption while building resilient livelihoods for 150 million smallholder farmers.” — Xavier Laguarta
The partnership with Aramco Ventures could also help the startup tap into carbon market relationships and potentially work with Aramco itself over time.
Why This Matters for India’s Climate-Tech Ecosystem
Mitti Labs’ funding round is a powerful signal of India’s growing role in the global climate-tech landscape. The investment highlights several key trends:
- Global Investor Confidence: Aramco Ventures’ first investment in an Indian startup signals that India’s climate-tech ventures are attracting top-tier global capital.
- AI for Social Impact: The startup demonstrates how artificial intelligence can be deployed to solve pressing environmental challenges while improving farmer livelihoods.
- Deep-Tech Maturity: Mitti Labs exemplifies the growing depth of India’s deep-tech ecosystem, combining satellite imagery, AI, and field operations.
- Sustainable Agriculture: The focus on rice—a staple crop for billions—positions India as a leader in climate-smart agriculture innovation.
With total funding of $12.5 million, a growing farmer base, and expansion plans across Asia, Mitti Labs is poised to become a defining player in the global effort to make rice farming more sustainable, resilient, and climate-friendly.
