Amini Corp., a environmental startup, has reportedly raised $2 million in pre-seed funding in a round that was oversubscribed. The funding round was led by Pale Blue Dot, a prominent European Climate Tech fund, with participation from other investors including Superorganism, Emurgo Kepple Ventures, RaliCap, W3i, and a network of angel investors from the global tech community.
Notably, Africa possesses 65% of global uncultivated fertile land and 30% mineral resources, yet its share to the global GDP is a mere 3%. One of the key factors contributing to this disparity is the lack of reliable and trustworthy data, which has hindered Africa's development for decades. It has impeded business decisions, capital allocation, and the ability to measure the impact of climate change.
Amini, within just six months of operation, has developed a robust platform for aggregating and analyzing data. The platform can collect, unify, and process satellite data, weather data, and other data sets down to a square meter. It offers valuable environmental data analytics, including insights on drought, flood, soil health, and crop health. The firm aims to bring focus to Africa's data scarcity, promote climate resilience, facilitate capital investment, and accelerate economic development in the region.
Heidi Lindvall, General Partner at Pale Blue Dot, expressed confidence in Amini's ability to fill Africa's environmental data gap, emphasizing the team's ambition and expertise. Amini's team possesses a strong track record of leveraging deep technologies to address Africa's unique challenges.
Kate Kallot, CEO & Founder of Amini, stated that they aim to create a centralized and reliable source of environmental data for Africa. They believe that data has the potential to change livelihoods by enabling climate resilience as well as sustainable value chains.
Kallot acknowledges that there is a long journey ahead, but they are optimistic about the tremendous transformation and development Africa can achieve over the next decade.
Amini has become the first African company accepted into the highly selective Seraphim Space Accelerator program, which scouts the top 2% of global early-stage space companies.
Credit Source: https://furtherafrica.com/2023/05/22/amini-raises-us2m-to-solve-environmental-data-scarcity-for-africa/