Climate-Tech Startup Mitti Labs to Transform Rice Farming with Satellite Imagery and AI

Mitti Labs, a New York- and Bengaluru-headquartered climate-tech startup, has secured $9.5 million in funding from Aramco Ventures and other investors to combat water-intensive rice farming in Asia.

Mitti Labs' platform uses satellite imagery, AI, and field operations to help farmers reduce water use and methane emissions. The startup has already seen significant traction, growing from working with 8,000 farmers in 2024 to over 100,000 this season across several Indian states.

How Mitti Labs' Platform Works

Mitti Labs' GeoAI platform combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from commercial and public satellites with years of field measurements collected by its teams. The startup's proprietary datasets allow it to train AI models, enabling remote monitoring of crop growth, soil moisture, and flooding across smallholder farms.

Impact and Expansion Plans

The startup's technology has helped farmers reduce water use by 40% and methane emissions by more than 50% without affecting yields. Mitti Labs aims to reach millions of smallholder farmers by 2030 and plans to launch operations in the Philippines later this year, before expanding into Indonesia and other Southeast Asian markets in 2027.

Quote from Co-Founder Xavier Laguarta

"We're really a data company at the end of the day," Laguarta said. "When you do these expansions, you're generating and gathering data from very different ecosystems."

Investors and Partnerships

Mitti Labs' Series A round was led by Aramco Ventures, with participation from existing backer Lightspeed India, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco, Francis Family Fund, and Volta Circle. The partnership with Aramco Ventures marks a significant milestone for the startup, with potential opportunities for collaboration and carbon market access.