Soil Intelligence Platform- Sensegrass

Lalit is a dynamic and young entrepreneur, who founded his first startup at the age of 23 and bootstrap and now at the age of 29 He Founder of Sensegrass with an Exit. Third Generation Farmer and Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2020.

Lalit has shown his problem solving and analytical skills since his college days and started working on some global issues like climate change and textile waste. 

Lalit is first and the only entrepreneur awarded by three European government with innovative startup visa and funds for his work and represented India and his work in the UN twice. Raised funds from angel to VC, grants to public funds.

Lalit has won multiple fellowships including Ashoka changemaker exchange, Bosch fellow, SOCAP, and He is part of much international youth organisation like world merit, make sense and mentor in the various incubator and Global shaper in World Economic Forum. 

Every year around 3400 Farmers suicide in India and Approximately 228 M globally Small farmers facing an issue of crop waste due to climate change and soil infertility because they have no tools to monitor soil health data and utilize the resources. 1/3 Of Global crop waste due to poor soil condition that affects 550M Small size farmers.

Sensegrass developed the soil intelligence system through patented NPK sensor which gathers real-time micro soil data and measures 18 parameters from the soil and crop to predict the right usage water, fertilizers etc for improved crop yield.

Sensegrass help farmers to double there income by improve crop yield and reduce the chemical fertilizers, its help to improve soil and land fertility by right amout of fertilizers and water at right time, right area. 

Impacted 9500 small farmers to bring there smile back. 

We are on a mission to provide farmers with a more sustainable farming option. Climate change affects agriculture drastically by changes in average temperature, rainfall, Co2 emission and increase pesticide in the soil which leads to a huge effect on Farmers that results in loss of crops, low crop yield etc.Agriculture is most dominant industry in our addressable market, Overall Agriculture industry is the largest industry in the world, Morethan 2 Trillion USD market if we estimated in Developing nation with only in India its more than 873 B USD, Huge, untouched market which really need Impact innovation. We are solving one of the global issues of farmers to know about the soil and crops condition to get real-time that help them in better decision making. Being the largest occupation in the rural sector with over 550 M small to mid-size farmers, Agriculture is always lack of innovation and outdated, more than half of the percentage of farmers live with a daily income of less than 40 USD with an average area of farms of 2 hectares or less which need an innovation that help them to grow well with a technology innovation.

We making soil intelligence system for fertilizer management and detect crop diseases to improve crop yield with water control tools for small farms through smart IoT and AI. We are developing the worlds first IoT + AI interface technology for the farmers for soil diagnosis and prediction tool for nutrients and other values in the soil to improve the soil efficiency. 

Our IoT Sensor is Implemented with the Nano-Satellite analytic which measure values from both under and above the soil for high efficiency. Our inhouse Smart soil sensing device cover and predict accurate data surveillance under and above the soil. We are making world-first smart soil sensor for NPK detection using our patent technology that measures more than 18 parameters from micro soil data (including NPK fertilizers) detection and giving solution and prediction to farmers for better decision making to get best crop yield and save money in farms. We are implementing a Machine Learning algorithm, to eliminate no human involvement for complete artificial intelligence analyzing of data to give precise solutions for better cropping. Most affordable Tech solution for Small size farmers.

Agriculture is one of the largest industry without a recession, While Agriculture is the most dominant industry it's still broken and based on many outdated technologies so the market is huge and need is big. Our solution is fit for the global market and we have tested with paid customers while our focus on small to mid-size individual farmers which are around 72% of the global workforce responsible for 90% of global food production and require a solution like this which is fitted with small farms and crops they grow.

Our focus currently in the Indian market where we currently in operation with major number of our customers with most revenue comes from here. Huge market with a lot of potentials to grow.

We making soil intelligence system for fertilizer management and detect crop diseases to improve crop yield with water control tools for small farms through smart IoT and AI. We are developing the worlds first IoT + AI interface technology for the farmers for soil diagnosis and prediction tool for nutrients and other values in the soil to improve the soil efficiency.

Our aim is to developed Sensegrass solution is to impact 550 M small to mid-size farmers with a low income facing issues during day to day agriculture practice of low crop yield, crop waste and excess use of  fertilizer. 

Half of my life I spend in a small village in state Uttar Pradesh, In India as a Farmer son and Grandson, I am third Generation farmer, I have been part of the population I am serving right now and seen the problem very closely. I turned innovator and problem solver for Sensegrass but never disconnected from my past, This is how I started Sensegrass to solve the problem of 118M small scale farmers in India by providing them the tool to improve the income and yield by helping them to save environment as well, as we consider as mother earth. I started this company with my old friend and colleague Abhishek and Rahul two years back back in India with our savings of 400 USD and five farmers and now we have impacted 9K Plus farmers in almost all states in India. We have grown tremendously, Raises fund, Awarded by Forbes and UN and that help us to motivated to keep doing the good work with a lot of challenge we face everyday. 

I have to extend where I left in my last answer, yes very personal connection, two of co founders comes from farming background from a small town in India to live and work abroad and realize the gap is not just in India or small developing nations but overall in Agriculture industry and that's leads to millions of dollar loss, thousands of tons crop waste due to soil and crop health issues and that's make us to solve this problem through a innovation which is not just a moonshot idea but also affordable for small size farmers. 

Around 72% of farmers are small to midsize farmers with low-income responsible for 90% of global food production, while saying this thousand of doing suicide every year due to financial loss and crop destruction due to several reasons and one major is lack of proper soil data, crop info, excessive chemical fertilizers.

Problem is not just huge but a necessary problem as we consume food everyday, and if we do not solve this we will be out of food soon. 

Dr Lalit Gautam is founder and CEO of company and the person behind the idea. Lalit has a degree in pharmaceutical Medicine (Pharm Doc) with MBA in International marketing and entrepreneurship with over 10 years of startup experience with several years of experience in rural and sustainable development working in rural communities of nations like India, and other part of Asia and Africa. Third generation farmers help them to understand the problem very closely. Extensive experience in soil and biotechnology with business acumen along with other team members to developed this solution.Forbes 30 Under 30. Being a Farmer Lalit is passionate about environmental and biodiversity issues, He is a climate reality leader, Audi Environmental Fellow, Ashoka Changemaker Exchange, Bosch fellow, Nominated by PM for Climate leader as well.

A Perfect blend of Business, Technology and Sciences. 

Rahul Gundala working full-time at Sensegrass as CPO has completed masters in product development from University of Maryland Recently & Bachelors from IIT-D in CS. He has 11 international papers in Siggraph, IEEE, HCVI among others in the fields of robotics, computer graphics & design principals. Has previously built a patented motorized soldering tool that was acquired by Soldron. Has also worked as a solution architect in large scale enterprise applications including HDMC smart city project & Other SaaS applications used in banks & government bodies. He takes care of platform development & solution architecture at Sensegrass. Is responsible for customer onboarding, multisource knitting, data analytics & visualization

Everyday we face challenges and obstacles in my work, being a social entrepreneur is not the easiest thing but then what's the value with no adversities in work. One of the situation I would like to share here, last oct we got a offer from a Bayer (Leading Chemical company) with a big funding and proposal to work in Latin America, Being a Social Impact with mission of prediction of excessive chemical fertilizers makes us a completely adverse from Bayer to work with, Kindly of pressure being a early stage company looking for funds, expansion opportunities and a possible exit in future make a difficult situation to work, but having a clear values comes from the past made me to refuse the offer straight away without being discuss with any team members or advisors as I was the one responsible for the discussion not to go with something for against we started the venture, glad team supported the discussion and we doing so well now.   

Social entrepreneur lives are always full of up and down, everyday we need to see the challenges especially in social development sectors like agriculture,  Being a CEO, I have started this company with one friend and partner of company with five farmers, now we have grown to 8 team members and impacted around 9K Farmers and working with 12500 Farmers in six nations, recently when the covid started, we have seen some unprecedented time as well, When the the partner got covid and our farmers facing the crucial time, cash crunch, and i think this is the toughest time for leaders like us, i have decided to take action and solve the biggest gap in the company due to lack of partner and other team members, I have sold the assets of mine that includes a home and Fixed deposit to fuel the cash in the company and take the charge of field manager to make sure we providing the services to farmers those not able to leave the place so there field and harvested crops do not waste due to lack of water or fertilizers etc. We are doing well, but tough time never last tough people do.

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We have developed-first Solar-powered wireless NPK soil sensors with Proprietary Technology (Patented) using the optical transmission that detects, measures and analyzes NPK, soil nutrients in real-time on our platform with AI prediction engine recommending best sustainable practices to improve crop yield. While processing macro-scale Nano-Satellite Image mapping for GIS analytics & visualization on users' farmland.

Our Technology and Product design efficiency make us competitive and the first mover in the market gives us a competitive advantage with real-time NPK monitoring. Our Patented Technology comes with Fourth Generation Infrared optical transmission which gives real-time precision results for NPK and other parameters. Our IoT device comes with Special Firmware to monitor 15+ Parameters which make our product most innovative hardware in the industry. We are the only company to measure these 18+ Parameters in real-time from the micro soil data without any need of sending soil samples to a lab or limited data capacity. Our Unique value is not limited to hardware but the software makes our first one with instant Personal AI-based agronomist software which makes farmers highly efficient to use the data for better decision making and the product comes with Data and solutions with instant notifications like a personal human agronomist to help each farmer with own expert for farming. Our third Component is high-efficiency Nanosatellite indices to measure and give extra precision through satellite to measure and predict Crop acreage and risk assessment which help users to know the real crop yield value much before the crop grow. 

First of all we need to know what is the current stage of problem, and what other solution or way our population depend on then we discuss in details-

Currently, only conventional method available in the market is Soil health analysis through lab testing, this is the biggest and main problem related to food and agriculture industry and unfortunately, the only conventional method is traditional soil lab testing method, where a sample of soil from a random area by farmer go to labs and using chemical method they do test, which take a week or two, costly, inaccurate, mixing of samples and outdated technique. No matter you are in the US, Israel, Europe, Africa or India this is the only option available for this problem. This method is not just outdated but also complex, Unreliable, Expensive and waste of resources.

Only method for soil testing analysis and other Technology based startups are either working on above the soil or highly expensive tools for corporate farms. 

Let me share the current level again, A typical mid size farmer In India with 2 hectare land spend 105 USD (6500 INR) for each test if we also add subsidy of government and this test done minimum once in 1 Hectare and 4 times in a crop season so around 4 850 USD in a crop season with a accuracy of 10% or less and other input cost, While he pays the amount he did not get the benefit of the soil test to use the data for proper soil and crop management and loss around 20% crop due to mismanagement of resources in the soil. 

While With Sensegrass he spend $ 19 Per Month with 85% accuracy and AI agronomist system that help farm to make better decision making for right usage of resources, fertilizers at right time, right place and right amount. 

Currently we have impacted and serving 9500 Small to midsize farmers ( Land Area- Upto 4 Hectare) with 2000 Hectare land in 22 Villages and Improve the Income by Double and Reduce fertilizer by 42% and 22% Co2 Reduction.

One Year Plan- Our Plan to expand our reach in 50+ Villages in 7 states of India with 21000 Farmers with the help of our local Partners.

Five Year Plan- A Target to reach 200 Villages in India with a 50000 farmers outreach and next 4-5 years.

Within Five years our plan is to expand in other Countries as well with total People Serve will be around 150,000 Farmers.

Next 2-3 years will be highly important for us in terms of expansion and strategic tie-ups with various regional agricultural boards, non-profits and private partners to get access to 2000000 Farmers in India and other regions. We are raising our Series A capital within the next year and also tie-up with production partner for commercial production of our devices to reach out to across India. Our big plan is to get into agreement with the Govt of India to replace lab soil test method with Soil intelligence system on a private-public partnership model.

Next 12 months onwards our solution will be an in a key position in India and other parts of the world as well, post-COVID agriculture and food system will be in a major role towards the transparency of our food and crops, usage of less fertilizer and more sustainable farming options.

As an Indian agriculture start-up, our aim is to create high impact and make agriculture hassle-free by eradication of fertilizers from the soil as well improve the financial condition of our farmers. In the next 1-2 years, we want to bring at least 60% of Agri cultivation to sustainable precision farming, reducing global pollution index & improving land restoration. And have more yield to meet the needs of the upcoming population. Our expansion plan with 8 states in India and continue working in Uganda and Kenya with 120K Farmers for the next two to three years

We are Hardware based company where we making IoT sensors based devices and as a Hardware company commercial production, deployment of devices and financial needs are the biggest challenges to grow at an initial stage, We have customers line up and so far we got the great responses by Governments and tech companies to buy our products so we are assured we are safe, apart from the financial part coming future technology into Agtech will be one challenge and our technology privacy too which we solved already through patenting them.

While our customer acquisition model is through Public-Private model where we work with these organisations as Technology partner to deploy our products through them in bulk deployment. 

While the Production is the only challenged, IP and Copyright issue also associated with this problem to avoid the risk of technology leak through unreliable sources and security of the technology is a key challenge as well.

Apart from the technology, Business Expansion is another challenge especially working with farmers directly and customer acquisition cost to get each small customers are some times quite challenging and to overcome that challenge we working through PPP model as technology providers to all big and small enterprises.

We have divided our challenges into three Parts- Financial, Market entry and Technical (Hardware), We have explained our challenges and how we can potentially overcome them but let u explain here in detail.

Financial- This is our core challenge in terms of expansion and might be a key barrier in our success growth and we have clear plan to solve this plan through our growth expansion strategy and sustainability plan. Our Financial sustainability is based on the trust we build through our solution, Currently, we working with 105 B2B companies and some of them are biggest in world like Bayer, etc with 4800 USD MRR and 0% churn Rate, We see 41% annual growth, Also closing Pre Series within 2020. Our Plan becomes Break Even in early 2021 and half-million ARR by 2023 with expansion in more nations. While our goal is to strategically work with Governments and leading banking to reach out to big numbers of farms. .

Hardware- With a sustainable Finance plan our another key problem of commercial production of our hardware units can be solve easily through a efficiency production partner which we have solved already.

Market Barrier- Agriculture is a traditional industry entry into traditional market like India and educate the farmers is most critical challenge, this we have over come through the local program partners to reach out to them on a large scales.

Currently we working with Ministry of Agriculture, India to provide our solution to 118M Small to midsize farmers as Pilot Partners to replace the traditional lab soil testing method to real time Soil Intelligence system.

Our Technology partners are Microsoft, Facebook and Qualcomm helping us to develop and deploy the technology to remote areas in India. We recently partner with Iowa Agri council along with corteva, Jhon deere and Pepsico. 

We are a SaaS/LaaS startup.

A. AI software analyzes sensor data and image data to give reports and recommendations to farmers (for pesticide usage, moisture, temperature, etc.) Comes with Personal AI Agronomist. Available in Mobile App and Web Dashboard.

B. NPK Sensor (Hardware IoT) This data is gathered via Smart soil Sensors, hyperspectral sensors (all of which are made in-house and sold as part of a service to farmers) Measure 18+ Parameters from in-depth soil in real-time. (Highest in a market in a single device)

C. Nano Satellite Data Analysis- Users can subscribe to the service, which includes some on-site setup and consulting, along with access to the mobile applications and Web with the detailed precision report and real-time detailed information.

We are targeting Companies and our users( farmers) with smart revenue model and effective cost structure which is easily expandable around the world-

All services come in a package with the following Pricing model.

1199 USD (Enterprise and Government) One Time Cost, Or

65 USD Per Month (Business/Individual) and

29 USD (B2C).Small Size Farmers

While Our Revenue model will be Sensor Device, Thats comes in three variants- Rover, Scanner and Sensor. AI Agronomist SaaS software, Satellite Analytics.

People, Planet and Profit is the core of our Sustainability plan in sensegrass, Being a Farmer son came from the same part of the population we working on, make us keep People and Planet on the core of our business values while keeping in mind a sustainable business model that runs with or without external private investment which would make us modify the values so profit is equally important to us and to make an effective solution that brings the impact on our planet needs a strong research base with a moonshot idea that comes at an affordable price.

Our Financial sustainability is based on the trust we build through our solution, Currently, we working with 105 B2B companies and some of them are biggest in world like Bayer, etc with 4800 USD MRR and 0% churn Rate, We see 41% annual growth, Also closing Pre Series within 2020. Our Plan becomes Break Even in early 2021 and half-million ARR by 2023 with expansion in more nations. While our goal is to strategically work with Governments and leading banking to reach out to big numbers of farms. We are negotiating with MithPhol leading Agri company with 1.5 M USD fund if we close we will be working with 45K small farmers in Thailand and SE Asia.

https://docs.google.com/spread...

We are a seed-funded startup and have raised around 280K USD mostly from various grants from the government of India, Chile and France. Also from Corfo which is public fund organisations. We have raised funds 100K From Chile Venture (VC)  We also have raised from Norway Angels as equity-free to operate in India and Africa.

We are generating revenue with our paid customers, Before our paid traction we have done three Pilots. One in Nebraska, US, Second Verona, Italy and Third Punjab, India to test the solution with different geography and soil conditions.

We have 105+ B2B clients and 9500+ users (Farmers) through which we working directly with our beneficiaries. We have the traction of 4200 USD MRR, with 32% Monthly growth.

https://drive.google.com/file/...

Our ARR was 79000 USD for the last year.

Currently, we raising our Pre Series Round(Bridge) of 300K USD that will help us to Raise Pre Series Round  of 1-1.5 M USD by the starting of next year.Currently we have lock 150K USD so far out of 300K USD,  We have hard commitment from Alchemist, IoTA Fund and soft commitment Sony VC fund around 200K USD total. This fund will help us to grow our revenue, Deploy more units and get more traction to go for Pre Series Around of 1 M USD or more.

Our 2020 Budget Expenses Sheet is mentioned below that contains our current Balance Sheet, Cash flow and Income Statement.

Follow Year 2020-21.

https://drive.google.com/file/...

Before Lockdown started we have close some potential deal that will help in cash burn and run away we have for 2020.