Nairobi-based climate technology startup Amini has successfully raised USD 4 million in a seed funding round aimed at addressing the continent’s environmental data gap.
The funding round led by Salesforce Ventures and supported by Female Founders Fund, follows from a USD 2 million pre-seed funding round earlier in March 2023. It was led by Pale Blue Dot and backed by Superorganism, with additional participation from investors like Satgana.
“Amini.ai’s cutting-edge technology is poised to redefine industries and drive transformative change,” stated Claudine Emeott, VP of Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund.
She further added “With a visionary team and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of climate AI, we are confident that Amini is poised for exceptional growth.”
The funds raised will be used to accelerate the startup’s expansion into new sectors, with a focus on supporting major food and beverage companies and consumer packaged goods producers in transforming their supply chains sustainably.
Amini’s focus is on leveraging artificial intelligence and satellite technology to revolutionize climate data collection and analysis across Africa.
It aims to build the ultimate African environmental data collection and intelligence infrastructure. The platform enables real-time monitoring tools and machine learning models for insights into soil health, water use, flood detection, and crop health down to the farm level.
“We are building technology that is designed specifically for Africa to lead an economic transformation for the continent’s 1 billion people,” said Kate Kallot, CEO and Founder of Amini.
Amini’s team, boasts over two decades of combined experience in AI solutions for leading tech companies such as NVIDIA, Arm, and Apple, is dedicated to developing an AI ecosystem tailored to the emerging markets they serve.
The company has already made strides in collaborating with corporations and multinationals in the agricultural and insurance industries, including Aon, a global professional services firm.
As new regulations in the U.S. and Europe compel corporations to disclose climate risks, the start-up is focused on de-risking the “first mile” of the global agricultural value chain through enhanced transparency and data access. With the approach aligns with the growing demand for transparent, climate-resilient supply chains.
