enfarm, a Vietnamese agritech company that leverages AI and IoT to optimise crop nutrition, has secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding led by Touchstone Partners with participation from Aiviet Venture and Conservation Vietnam.
The investment will help enfarm empower farmers with data-driven insights to boost yields while minimising environmental impact, it said.
Founded in 2023 by Nguyen Do Dung, an expert in urban planning and design, enfarm addresses a critical gap in traditional farming — most farmers grow crops based on experience without the support of data. Recognising this, Nguyen joined forces with Ho Long Phi, an expert in water resources and climate change, to establish enfarm.
The startup addresses a critical agricultural challenge: inefficient fertiliser use. This practice wastes a staggering $120 billion annually, degrades one-third of global cropland, and accounts for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. enfarm’s innovative solution utilises real-time data from soil sensors and smartphone applications.
“This investment will enable us to scale operations, lower product costs, cover more crops and expand to other ASEAN markets,” said Nguyen.
Nguyen further emphasised the urgency of enfarm’s solution, stating, “Climate change is jeopardising traditional farming methods. enfarm is positioned as a transformative solution for global agriculture, enabling low-carbon, high-yield farming practices to meet the 70% increase in food demand forecasted by the FAO by 2050.”
Nguyen told DealStreetAsia in an interaction that the funding will be used to conduct extensive R&D to refine and expand its technological offerings, scaling smart fertilisation solutions to other crops such as bananas and tea alongside coffee and durian.
Currently, enfarm is offering IoT devices on a rental basis to make technology accessible to a broader range of farmers and alleviate initial capital constraints.
It has recently launched enfarm F, which is a compact powerhouse that delivers all the data for farmers about essential NPK nutrients, perfect pH balance and soil temperature, as well as moisture levels.
Agricultural experts estimate that fertilizer contributes 40% to increasing crop production in Vietnam. However, fertilizers also represent a substantial cost for farmers, accounting for 30-40% of their total expenses.
“Unabsorbed fertilizers exacerbate financial strains and contribute to environmental degradation, including soil nutrient depletion and climate change,” Nguyen stated.
Touchstone Partners is an active VC firm in the climate sector. Last year, Singapore’s Temasek Foundation and the Vietnamese venture capital firm Touchstone Partners launched Net Zero Challenge in partnership with the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies.
“By providing farmers with real-time soil data, enfarm’s solution allows farmers to optimise fertilizer use and reduce agricultural waste. By making agricultural production more efficient and sustainable on a larger scale, enfarm not only boosts productivity but also supports farmers in reducing costs and improving their livelihoods,” said Khanh Tran, Managing Partner at Touchstone Partners.
Touchstone has also invested in agritech firm Forte Biotech.
Meanwhile, co-investor AiViet, founded in 2023, aims to cultivate the seeds of innovation and entrepreneurship within Vietnam by empowering local startups to solve industry challenges with the contribution of breakthrough technologies.
“What set enfarm apart was its innovative use of smart farming technology. Their IoT-enabled systems allow real-time monitoring of soil health, weather conditions, and crop growth, empowering farmers to optimise water usage, reduce chemical inputs, and thus ensure the efficiency alongside with preserve the environment,” said Trinh Nguyen, Investment Director of Aiviet Venture.
“As an early investor, we are impressed with the commitment to delivering on ambitious goals and driving meaningful impact. We are proud to support enfarm to further development in technology and hopefully making positive impact to the landscape of agritech in Vietnam.”
Recently, DealStreetAsia reported that Vietnam’s Techcoop raised a $70-million Series A funding round in a mix of equity and debt, in what could be the largest Series A investment in a Southeast Asian agritech startup to date.
The round, which includes $28 million in equity funding and $42 million in debt financing, was led by existing investors Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm TNB Aura and Vietnam-based VC firm Ascend Vietnam Ventures (AVV).
Other recent deals in the Vietnamese agritech sector include shrimp farming platform Tepbac’s $2.25 million pre-Series A round in April 2023. The financing was provided by Aqua-Spark, AgFunder, and Son-Tech Investment.
