French startup Agricool to grow fruits and vegetables in containers

French startup Agricool has raised $4.3 million (€4 million) from newly launched VC firm Daphni as well as Parrot founder Henri Seydoux and Captain Train (acquired by Trainline) co-founder Jean-Daniel Guyot. Agricool’s product is quite unusual as the company wants to grow strawberries and later other fruits and vegetables inside shipping containers. With many people […]

It’s Like Uber for Tractors, and It Could Change the Game for African Farmers

It’Three minutes into my conversation with Jehiel Oliver, CEO of Hello Tractor, the line goes dead. When I call back, he’s already laughing. “Welcome to West African communication,” he said. “That’ll happen three more times during this call.” He’s right (the third time, thankfully, is the charm), but the difficulty drives home only one of […]

How a simple SIM card makes farmers more efficient—and possibly saves lives

How a simple SIM card makes farmers more efficient—and possibly saves lives India’s GreenSIM initiative exposes rural farmers to tech and essential real-time info.  by  Julianne Tveten  Farmers harvest peanuts in the village of Addakal, India. ICRISAT A handful of years ago, Chandrakala Kongala, a farmer in the rural village of Kommireddipalli in the southern […]