WHY WE INVESTED

Xperiment recognized the potential of Kilimo and its innovative approach to addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing agriculture – water management. The company’s use of big data, artificial intelligence, and satellite technology to provide site-specific irrigation recommendations for farmers aligns with Xperiment’s focus on agtech solutions that use technology to drive efficiency and sustainability in the agricultural industry. Additionally, Xperiment saw the opportunity for Kilimo to tap into the growing market for water offset solutions, and appreciated the company’s commitment to reducing irrigation and saving water, which aligns with global water conservation efforts. The team’s unique character and strong background in data science, GIS, and irrigation made them a strong fit to execute on their ambitious plans.

FOUNDER(S)

CEO & Co-Founder – Jairo Trad.

CTO & Co-Founder – Juan Carlos Abdala.

COO & Co-Founder – Tatiana Malvasio.

Kilimo is a Big Data solution for water management in agriculture. It features climate monitoring by using satellite and site data to provides prescription for each crop and increase water use efficiency. The company was founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cordoba, Argentina.

Kilimo was founded in 2014 in Cordoba, Argentina, by Jairo Trad and Toni Abdala. The company’s mission is to help farmers reduce irrigation and increase water use efficiency through the use of big data. Kilimo’s founders had a shared passion for agriculture and technology and wanted to create a solution that would address the critical issue of drought in the industry.

The problem they sought to solve was that climate change was causing more intense, frequent, and longer droughts, and as a result, most of the world would be living with water stress in the coming years. Additionally, drought was a major factor in land degradation and the decline of yields for major crops, which was expected to decrease by 17% globally by 2050.

To address this problem, Kilimo developed a technology that leveraged AI to help farmers reduce irrigation and allow them to sell water offsets to companies pledging to be water neutral. By leveraging big data, the company was able to model field-by-field evapo-transpiration and provide site-specific irrigation recommendations to save up to 30% less water. The company’s ultimate goal was to save 7 Trillion Liters to compensate the yearly water consumption of 650 Million people in Latin America by 2031.

Xperiment partnered with an exceptional team and helped to evolve their unique business model.

The company’s unique approach and innovative solution gained traction quickly, and by 2022, they had achieved $2M in revenues (2.5x YoY), $2M in water compensation projects, and had over 2000 farmers and 320 customers using their platform. They were also able to secure partnerships with big companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola.

Today, Kilimo is pioneer and global leader in the water-saving and water compensation  market and continues to grow and scale their business. With their market opportunity estimated to reach $100+B annually by 2030 and their focus on the Latin America market, they have a promising future ahead