NEW YORK / BENGALURU, August 5, 2026 — Rice farming across Asia is facing new challenges as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns change. Mitti Labs, a New York- and Bengaluru-headquartered climate-tech startup, has raised $9.5 million in Series A funding to expand its technology platform across Asia and help farmers reduce water consumption and methane emissions linked to rice cultivation. The round was led by Aramco Ventures, the venture arm of Saudi Aramco, marking its first investment in an Indian startup. Existing investor Lightspeed India also participated, along with Godrej Industries Group, Cisco, Francis Family Fund and Volta Circle.

With this investment, Mitti Labs has raised $12.5 million in total funding, including a $3 million seed round completed in July 2024. The startup plans to use the capital to enter additional Asian regions and work with more smallholder farmers. Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, but its cultivation requires significant water resources. Flooded rice fields also contribute substantially to agricultural methane emissions, creating a need for new methods that help farmers manage resources while maintaining crop production.

Satellite Technology and AI Help Monitor Rice Fields

Since launching its first programs in 2023, Mitti Labs has developed a GeoAI platform that uses satellite radar imagery, artificial intelligence, and field data collected from farming regions. The technology creates digital representations of individual rice fields, allowing agricultural organizations to monitor crop growth, water usage and methane emissions across thousands of smallholder farms. Many of these farms are about one hectare in size, making frequent physical monitoring difficult.

The company uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from commercial and public satellites, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters. Mitti Labs also uses years of field measurements collected by its agricultural specialists. Co-founder Xavier Laguarta told TechCrunch that the company’s strength comes from the proprietary datasets it has developed through field research. These datasets help train AI systems that track crop development, soil moisture and flooding patterns remotely across small farming areas.

Growth From Thousands of Farmers to Large Agricultural Programs

Mitti Labs started its first season in 2024, working with about 8,000 farmers, and has expanded to more than 100,000 farmers across several Indian states. The startup now has more than 150 employees, with most based in India. Field staff work directly with farmers and local agricultural organizations to encourage irrigation practices that reduce water use while maintaining rice yields.

The company reports that farmers participating in its programs have reduced water consumption by about 40% and methane emissions by more than 50% without affecting crop output. The programs also allow farmers to generate carbon credits, creating an additional income source. Mitti Labs earns revenue from carbon credit projects and its GeoAI platform. Customers include carbon marketplace Cool Effect, which works with companies such as Google and American Airlines, along with rice producer Ebro Foods and agricultural company Syngenta. These organizations use Mitti Labs’ data and analytics to better understand agricultural resource use within their supply networks.

Funding Opens Expansion Across Southeast Asia

Aramco Ventures invested in Mitti Labs because of the startup’s work in reducing methane emissions, improving water resilience and applying artificial intelligence to agriculture. The investment also creates opportunities for Mitti Labs to connect with carbon market participants and explore future collaboration with Saudi Aramco. The startup’s work in rice farming aligns with growing interest in technologies that address agricultural emissions and resource management.

Using the new funding, Mitti Labs plans to launch operations in the Philippines later this year before entering Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries in 2027. The expansion will allow the company to work with different farming systems, irrigation networks and carbon programs. Each new region will also provide additional agricultural data that can help improve the company’s technology. The startup currently operates in the voluntary carbon market and expects new locations to create opportunities in compliance carbon markets.

Image credit: Mitti Labs

Agricultural Data Becomes a Foundation for Future Expansion

Mitti Labs views agricultural data as an important resource for improving rice farming practices. By collecting information from different farming regions, the company can study irrigation patterns, crop development and resource use across varied agricultural settings. The platform connects satellite observations with field research to provide information for farmers, businesses and carbon programs.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Laguarta described the company’s focus on data collection, saying, “We’re really a data company at the end of the day. When you do these expansions, you’re generating and gathering data from very different ecosystems.” As farming communities across Asia deal with changing weather patterns and resource challenges, Mitti Labs is expanding its use of satellite technology and AI to help farmers reduce emissions, manage water resources and participate in carbon programs. The latest funding gives the startup resources to bring its technology to more rice-producing regions across Asia.