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As a kid, I spent most of my school summer breaks on my grandparents’ poultry and crop farm in South India. This half-hectare property gave me a glimpse of what a farmer’s life was like, and “backbreaking” is the word that comes to mind.
Every day, my grandfather and uncle would wake up around 5 a.m. to feed the chickens and cattle and start work on the field. They would then inspect the crops and assess for damage due to pests or bad weather. It was heartbreaking when an entire crop of mangoes and cashews for the season were destroyed because of heavy rain.
Those days seem to be in the distant past now, as more farmers today adopt agritech solutions that help automate tasks, monitor the environment, increase productivity, and reduce wastage of resources. Agritech startups have also gotten the attention of investors. In Indonesia, for instance, these players have seen an over 60% rise in funding amount till September 2022 to reach US$216.9 million, according to Tech in Asia data.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for Vietnam, as my colleague Huong highlights in this week’s Big Story. Only a handful of agritech startups in the country have raised external funding as they grapple with the slow adoption of technology among smallholder farmers, who are mainly concerned with domestic supply chain issues. Despite these challenges, investors see the promise in Vietnam’s agritech.
Speaking of promise, our other Big Story shines a light on the earnings of e-scooter startup Neuron Mobility. My colleague Shadine wrote about the Singapore-based company, which posted a 2.3x revenue growth in 2021 and expanded its operations to 22 cities from just seven a year earlier. Although Neuron exited South Korea just months after it launched there, it has seen rapid growth in Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Another thing that’s swiftly growing is the number of accelerators in Southeast Asia, which we take a deeper look at in this edition’s Making Waves.
— Collin
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ The challenge and hidden potential of Vietnam’s agritech sector
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Agritech firms in the country face an uphill task to digitalize a fragmented industry.
2️⃣ Neuron Mobility’s revenue doubles but losses widen
MAKING WAVES
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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