Amini, a Nairobi-based climate tech startup focused on solving Africa’s environmental data gap through artificial intelligence and satellite technology, has raised $4 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, Salesforce’s global investment arm, and Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage venture fund that invests exclusively in female-founded companies.
Amini’s successful raise follows a $2 million pre-seed funding round that closed in March 2023. The pre-seed round was led by Pale Blue Dot, backed by Superorganism, which also participated in this seed round alongside new investors such as Satgana.
“We are thrilled to support Amini, a trailblazing company at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation and climate technology,” said Claudine Emeott, VP of Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund. “Amini.ai’s cutting-edge technology is poised to redefine industries and drive transformative change. With a visionary team and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of climate AI, we are confident that Amini is poised for exceptional growth.”
With a team boasting over 20 years of combined experience developing AI solutions for leading tech companies such as NVIDIA, Arm and Apple, Amini is driving the development of an AI ecosystem rooted in the emerging markets they intend to serve. The proceeds of the latest raise will accelerate Amini’s growth into new sectors, including supporting some of the world’s largest food and beverage companies and consumer packaged goods producers that aim to transform their supply chains across the tropical belt sustainably. This momentum builds on the company’s initial success with corporations and multinationals in the agricultural and insurance industries, including Aon, a global professional services firm.
Aon’s Ciara Jackson, Global Food, Agribusiness&Beverage Leader, Enterprise Client Group, shared, “we are thrilled to be working with Amini and believe that this technology offers new opportunities for corporates, farmers, and regulators as they try to close the loop around agricultural value chains. Insurance is the seed of resilience and we hope that the collaboration between Aon and Amini will create further opportunities to strengthen supply chains and accelerate our climate transition.”
Founded by AI innovation and technology expert Kate Kallot, Amini is driven by its ambition to build the ultimate African environmental data collection and intelligence infrastructure. The platform enables the creation of real time monitoring tools and ML models to support insights into everything from soil health to water use to flood detection and crop health down to the farm level. The team is focused on enabling large multinational corporations to transform their supply chain from merely rest to regenerative, benefitting human and natural capital at scale. With an idea conceived at COP27, Kate and her team are celebrating the first year of Amini’s rapid and successful development, and Amini will have a significant presence at this year’s COP28 in UAE.
Kate Kallot, CEO and Founder, Amini commented, “We are building technology that is designed specifically for Africa to lead an economic transformation for the continent’s 1 billion people. By de-risking the “first mile” of the global agricultural value chain through enhanced transparency, data access, and greater economic inclusion for farmers, we have a unique opportunity to kickstart positive feedback loops which will transform global food systems. Amini is innovating for our people and planet, for corporations, farmers, and regulators by transforming value chains. As new regulation in the U.S. and Europe compels corporations to disclose the climate risks in their supply chains, this new investment from Salesforce Ventures and Female Founders Fund will accelerate the scaling of our business and data infrastructure platform, enabling sustainable growth and powering our business expansion.”
Anu Duggal, Founding Partner at Female Founders Fund, stated, “we are thrilled to partner with Kate in her vision to build Amini, a climate tech startup uniquely positioned to bridge Africa’s environmental data gap. Leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence and satellite technology, Amini is on course to establish the most extensive environmental data collection and intelligence network across the continent. Kate’s unparalleled expertise in emerging markets and AI is instrumental in this venture.” Duggal adds that “significantly, with Sub-Saharan Africa boasting 65% of the world’s untapped arable land, Amini’s data will provide farmers with critical insights for optimal practices, potentially catalyzing a development wave capable of feeding the world, as climate change increasingly impacts global food sources. Amini is not just an environmental endeavour; it’s a step towards a sustainable future for global food security.”
