Agritech’s next business model may not charge the farmer
For much of the last decade, agritech startups in emerging markets were sold on a seductive idea: millions of smallholder farmers, armed with smartphones, would pay for software that helped them farm better. Investors liked the story because it sounded scalable. Build once, distribute widely, grow user numbers fast. The problem was that the model […] The post Agritech’s next business model may…
The agritech industry's traditional model of charging farmers directly for software has proven to be less effective than initially anticipated. This is primarily due to the fact that smallholder farmers in emerging markets face a multitude of urgent constraints beyond the need for better farming information, such as access to affordable inputs, reliable buyers, working capital, weather shocks, and unstable prices.
Furthermore, the global funding correction that began in 2022 has made it increasingly difficult for agritech companies to rely on user registrations or app downloads as proof of progress. Consequently, a new generation of agritech models is emerging, shifting their monetisation strategies towards buyers, processors, retailers, exporters, and agribusiness corporations who have stronger balance sheets and clearer incentives to pay for tools that improve traceability, climate resilience, supply visibility, and compliance.
This shift allows the farmer to remain central to the system while avoiding the full cost of digitisation.
Brief written by urgent.news from e27's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
