Founded in December 2022, Kenyan climate solutions start-up Amini has just won $2 million to deploy a “satellite constellation” essential to developing agriculture and preventing natural disasters in Africa. This pre-seed funding was secured through a funding round led by venture capital firm Pale Blue Dot.

Investors include the RaliCap fund and joint venture Emurgo Kepple Ventures. This Amini technology that “will provide information on drought, flood, soil and plant health” is being developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), based in Paris, France, and the Earth Observation Space Program led by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).

“If you look at environmental data in Africa today, it is either non-existent or difficult to access. And with climate change expected to hit the continent hardest, there is a lack of information for farmers, for example, to understand what is happening. The problem runs deeper than most realize.”regrets Kate Kallot, CEO of Amini.

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If the start-up is currently interested in small farmers, it is because its solutions are designed to tell them when to plow, harvest or water. In fact, satellite data make it possible to monitor crop yields, identify areas with water and fertilizer shortages, but also predict the spread of certain diseases in crops and livestock, the study says a study the Canadian Space Agency.

Benoit Ivan Wansi