In the second quarter of 2024, the Philippines saw a total agricultural trade value of $6.8 billion, reflecting a 14.3% increase from the previous year. The top 10 commodity groups accounted for nearly all agricultural export revenue. Despite this growth, the overall value of agricultural production decreased by 3.3%, mainly due to declines in crops and livestock, while poultry production increased by 8.7%.
The agricultural sector remains vital for 25-30% of the labor force in the Philippines, consisting of crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries. The National Economic and Development Authority aims to enhance food security and strengthen the agricultural sector in the Philippines.
Here is the list of top 10 AgriTech startups in the Philippines
Table of Contents
Cropital
Founded Year: 2015
Location: Manila, Philippines
Stage: Funding Raised
Cropital is a globally recognized crowdfunding platform that connects investors with Filipino farmers. It is supported by institutions from the USA, Netherlands, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Cropital helps farmer’s access sustainable financing and allows users to invest in agriculture while potentially earning returns. Investors can choose specific farms to support and share in the profits and risks involved.
The platform offers a net profit sharing scheme, with returns ranging from 3 to 30% in less than six months. Cropital aims to improve farmers’ income and productivity and provides access to crop insurance and capital. It follows the rules set by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cropital has been affiliated with the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center since October 2015.
Kita
Founded Year: 2021
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
Stage: Seed
Kita started in a small 20-square-meter warehouse with an old pickup truck and a team of six employees. The company aimed to support local farmers by supplying fresh fruits and vegetables to restaurants in Metro Manila. The startup later expanded by acquiring warehouses for more products like meats and additional delivery trucks. They continued to grow while maintaining excellent service.
Today, Kita serves the approximately top 100 hotels and restaurants in the Philippines. They integrate modern technology and artificial intelligence into their operations to benefit farmers and provide great service. In 2022, they launched KITA.PH, a social eCommerce platform that allows people to buy and sell fresh produce online. Their goal is to offer the lowest prices and freshest produce in major cities through a group buying and affiliate system.
ADAMCO
Founded Year: 1999
Location: Pasig, Philippines
Stage: Funding Raised
ADAMCO (Ada Manufacturing Corporation) is a Filipino-owned company that manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment in the Philippines. They offer a wide range of products including rice combine harvesters, four-wheel tractors, rice transplanters, corn threshers, and small engines.
ADAMCO provides financing options to help entrepreneurs start agribusinesses and has a program called Life Made Better (LMB) to assist small farmers who lack capital for farm inputs and equipment. The company operates 37 branches and extension outlets across the Philippines.
Originally part of Ropali Trading in the 1970s, ADAMCO became independent in 1999. The company’s goal is to make agriculture easier and more profitable for farmers by giving them access to modern machinery and capital. ADAMCO is part of the Ropali Group of Companies, which also operates in banking, real estate, and motorcycles. They also offer smart agricultural equipment with features like GPS tracking.
Mrs. Garcia’s Meats
Founded Year: 1996
Location: Makati, Philippines
Stage: Late Stage
Mrs. Garcia’s story is tied to the well-known Mother’s Choice brand, which is trusted by many mothers for its safety, affordability, and quality. Families have relied on Mother’s Choice for years, and Mrs. Garcia aims to continue this tradition by providing reliable products.
Established by Meatworld International, Inc., Mother’s Choice is a key player in the meat industry. The brand is committed to exploring innovative materials and designs to enhance its products and remain relevant in a changing marketplace.
Mother’s Choice serves as an e-distributor of meat and seafood for businesses including supermarkets, restaurants, and hotels. Its product catalog features chicken, pork, lamb, steaks, goat, fish, and seafood. The platform also provides recipes for consumers.
Mayani
Founded Year: 2019
Location: Manila, Philippines
Stage: Seed
Mayani is an agri-tech platform focused on improving the lives of smallholder farmers and fisherfolk in the Philippines. Its mission is to create sustainable market pathways, increase rural incomes, and provide access to affordable fresh produce.
Mayani offers fresh and locally sourced products as well as agricultural inputs. The platform provides services such as farm-to-table partnerships, online shopping, and a reseller network. It has built a grassroots network of organized farmers and fisherfolk across six regions in the Philippines. Mayani has received support from organizations like the Asian Development Bank and various investors.
Founded by Ochie San Juan and Jeff Barreiro, Mayani aims to empower rural communities through sustainable supply chain solutions.
Fresh2Ket
Founded Year: 2015
Location: Manila, Philippines
Stage: Deadpooled
Fresh2Ket aims to make buying healthy farm produce easy and affordable for customers while ensuring fair prices for farmers. The platform connects users directly with farmers, eliminating middlemen to ensure smooth transactions from harvest to delivery.
Fresh2Ket helps users understand pricing by collaborating with the Department of Agriculture to provide transparent comparisons with local market prices. As a B2B grocery supplier, Fresh2Ket serves restaurants through its web platform, delivering only to businesses that have signed contracts since January 2016.
CloudFarm Innovations
Founded Year: 2015
Location: Davao City, Philippines
Stage: Seed
CloudFarm Innovations is an agri-tech company in the Philippines that utilizes IoT and big data analytics to help farmers increase crop yields and enhance food security. Their main product, the Heat Stress Analyzer, protects crops from heat stress and analyzes data for better harvests.
Farmers can use IoT sensors and cloud analytics to monitor soil moisture and crop health, reducing wasteful practices. These technologies optimize the use of water, fertilizers, and energy, lowering costs and minimizing environmental impact.
CloudFarm Innovations also supports synchronization of all farming operations through connected technologies. Other agricultural advancements in the Philippines include a climate impact reduction program and digital databases for monitoring crop production. The Heat Stress Analyzer consists of sensors that track temperature, light intensity, soil moisture, humidity, and pH, sending this information to a cloud-based analytics system for automatic control.
Farmwatch Solutions
Founded Year: 2016
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
Stage: Funding Raised
Farmwatch specializes in remote environmental and energy monitoring for agricultural and industrial buildings. The company tracks various environmental factors that affect livestock farms and provides data along with expert recommendations for better management.
Farmwatch also focuses on energy monitoring for biogas generators and buildings. Their system is designed for large tunnel-vent broiler poultry farms, utilizing Internet-of-Things technology to offer remote monitoring and analytics. It measures temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and ammonia levels within farm buildings and sends alerts to owners if carbon dioxide levels become unsafe.
Session Groceries
Founded Year: 2018
Location: Baguio, Philippines
Stage: Unfunded
Session Groceries is an online grocery store and farm-to-table app that connects local farmers in the Philippines with consumers. Its mission is to support local farmers, promote fresh locally-grown food, and offer affordable options for buyers.
The app allows consumers to have fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to their homes. The company has over 2,000 partner farmers from regions like Benguet, Cavite, Ilocos, Mindoro, and Pangasinan.
In addition to deliveries, Session Groceries provides financial literacy training for farmers and processes rejected produce into soaps. The app is available on both iOS and Android platforms and aims to educate the community on the benefits of eating fresh local food.
Anihan Technologies
Founded Year: 2021
Location: Makati, Philippines
Stage: Funding Raised
Anihan Technologies or AniTech is a Filipino AgriTech startup focused on reducing food loss in Asia and improving agricultural supply chains. The name comes from the Filipino word for harvest.
AniTech aims to maximize existing resources to enhance food security and reduce waste. The company envisions flexible food systems that can adapt to various conditions in the ASEAN region. AniTech provides software solutions for urban farm and storage facility monitoring. Its sensor-based system helps farmers and agri-businesses track storage conditions and spoilage rates. The platform offers visualizations of operations along with automated notifications and reports.
Conclusion
The agritechnology sector in the Philippines is set for growth in 2024 as the government and stakeholders focus on increasing productivity and food security. The Department of Agriculture is modernizing its databases and boosting agri-fishery production through digitalization and mechanization. Partnerships with farmers and the private sector are being strengthened to promote sustainability and resilience.
Precision agriculture is helping farmers increase crop yields while initiatives like the Solar Irrigation Project aim to tackle climate change. In early 2024, despite a decline in crops, livestock, and fisheries, agricultural production saw a slight increase, driven mainly by poultry. Overall, the future of the agriculture sector looks bright due to the adoption of modernization and sustainability.
