Deeptech startup Mitti Labs has secured $9.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Aramco Ventures. The investment, which brings the company’s total funding to $12.5 million, also saw participation from Lightspeed India, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund, and Volta Circle.
The fresh capital will support the company’s expansion across India while enabling the launch of new greenfield projects in the Philippines and Indonesia. In parallel, Mitti Labs will scale its GeoAI (geospatial artificial intelligence) platform, which uses satellite technology to monitor agricultural practices and reduce methane emissions from rice farming.
Technology and Operations
At the core of the company’s solution is its GeoAI platform, which combines high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data with field-collected ground truth and physical models. The platform generates digital twins of Asia’s rice fields at the resolution of individual plots, enabling precise monitoring of farming practices and methane emissions.
Founded by Devdut Dalal, Xavier Laguarta, and Nathan Torbick, Mitti Labs works with smallholder farmers to implement Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), a water-efficient rice cultivation technique that helps reduce methane emissions.
Beyond lowering emissions, the company’s platform enables farmers to earn additional income through carbon credits. By combining satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, agronomy, and on-ground operations, Mitti Labs aims to improve water efficiency while addressing the environmental impact of one of Asia’s most water-intensive crops.
“Growing more rice with less water is one of the world’s major challenges,” said Xavier Laguarta. He added that the company’s technology and scalable operational model can help transform rice cultivation, reduce emissions, lower water consumption, and build resilient livelihoods for 150 million smallholder farmers.
Market Impact
Aramco Ventures, the venture arm of Saudi Aramco, highlighted the challenge of monitoring agricultural practices across millions of fragmented rice farms.
Zayed AlAmri, Executive Managing Director at Aramco Ventures, said the company’s integration of AI and satellite technology provides the visibility needed to better understand field-level farming practices at scale. According to AlAmri, Mitti Labs’ technology has the potential to help accelerate the adoption of more sustainable rice cultivation across Asia.
The new funding is expected to accelerate the deployment of Mitti Labs’ GeoAI platform across major rice-growing regions, supporting efforts to reduce methane emissions, improve water efficiency, and create additional income opportunities for farmers through carbon credit programs.
