The agritech STARTUPs in South Africa are proffering solutions in the agricultural landscape. Solutions and innovations that address challenges with sustainability, productivity, efficiency and climate resilience. These innovations are being initiated and implemented with the integration of cutting-edge technology like data analytics, remote sensing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), satellite technology, Internet of Things (IoT), digital platforms and others. As the world faces increasing demands for sustainable food production and climate-resilient farming, South Africa’s agritech sector is rapidly evolving. In 2025, these 10 agritech startups stand out for their innovation, impact, and scalability, while transforming how farming is done across South Africa and beyond.
1. Aerobotics
Source: Seek Logo
Aerobotics remains a trailblazer in precision agriculture in 2025. The Cape Town-based STARTUP uses drone and satellite imagery combined with AI to monitor tree and fruit crops. The innovation optimises crop performance through its efficiently designed AI systems. Their proprietary platform, using drone technology and machine learning mechanisms, data analytics helps farmers detect pests, diseases, and water stress early. While based in South Africa, Aerobotics has expanded its services to various countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, demonstrating the global applicability of its technology. Through their crop diagnostics, they help fruit growers, packers, and marketers forecast yields using accurate size, colour and quality measurements from smartphone imagery.
According to Tracxn, Aerobotics has raised the total of $27.1M over 5 funding rounds: 1 Seed and 4 Early-Stage rounds. Aerobotics’ largest funding round so far was a Series B round for $17M in December 2020, led by Naspers. The founders of Aerobotics are Benjamin Meltzer and James Paterson. James is the CEO of Aerobotics, while Benjamin is the co-founder and CTO, but now Partnerships at Aerobotics.
2. Khula!
Source: Khula
Khula continues to revolutionise the way smallholder farmers interact with agricultural supply chains, especially with finance and market as major bottlenecks for smallholder farmers’ engagement. Their designed digital ecosystem comprises of three main platforms: Input App for farm inputs, the Fresh Produce Marketplace for buyers, and the Funded App to connect farmers with financing. In 2025, Khula has scaled to over 20,000 users, ranging from smallholders to commercial operators. Khula is rapidly becoming a key player in linking informal farmers with formal markets while supporting agribusinesses with inventory and logistics solutions. Khula was co-founded in November 2016 by Jackson Dyora, Karidas Tshintsholo, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Matthew Piper, who doubles as the Chief Product Officer (CPO). Earlier in the year, they raised $6.7 million in the first tranche of its Series A funding round, but they are not relenting as they are now targeting R200 million by mid-year to close its Series A. They intend to stake the remainder of the round open to external investors.
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3. Nile.ag
Source: Nile
Nile.ag was founded in 2021. The co-founders are Louis de Kock, Eugene Roodt, and Rick Kleynhans. Rick also doubles as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The company provides comprehensive digital solutions tailored to address critical challenging areas in food trading. These include enhancing price transparency, improving quality verification, accelerating payment speeds, ensuring produce traceability, and reducing food waste. The company has raised a total of $16.4 million since its inception. This includes a $5.1 million seed round in 2022 and a $11.3 million Series A round in 2025.
4. Livestock Wealth
Livestock Wealth is an agrifinance company that connects investors with farmers who own cattle. This fintech-agritech hybrid allows investors to own and profit from actual livestock remotely. Livestock Wealth distinguishes itself through its innovative “crowd farming” model, allowing individuals to invest in livestock as a form of wealth creation and access to financial services. Their model provides liquidity and capital for farmers while offering investors a unique opportunity to participate in the agricultural sector and share in the profits. Through their mobile platform, users can invest in pregnant cows, free-range cattle, or organic farms with Livestock Wealth. The organisation manages and updates the investors with farm performance data. In 2025, the company has broadened its portfolio to include poultry and regenerative agriculture investments, democratising agricultural finance for both urban investors and rural farmers. The company was founded in 2015. The founder and CEO of Livestock Wealth is Ntuthuko Shezi.
5. SwiftVEE
Source: SwiftVEE
SwiftVEE operates as a livestock auction and agri-marketplace platform that has become essential for commercial and communal farmers in South Africa. By combining real-time data, predictive analytics, and auctioneering, SwiftVEE improves pricing efficiency and market transparency. Furthermore, SwiftVEE connects livestock agencies with buyers through an online platform, streamlining livestock sales and improving market transparency. In 2025, SwiftVEE has uniquely grown as the largest independent online livestock trading platform in Africa and was selected as a Google Launchpad company. SwiftVEE is also recognised as a leader in e-commerce and agtech, with accolades such as being named the “E-Commerce Platform of the Year” and receiving the “United Nations Best Agtech Platform” award. They are expanding into global markets, positioning themselves as a key player in the future of livestock trading. Their 2025 upgrades include enhanced livestock tracking through IoT collars, giving buyers and sellers insights into animal health, movement, and feed consumption. It was founded in 2019 by Russel Luck, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
6. AgriTechnovation
Source: AgriTechnovation
AgriTechnovation specialises in data-driven farming, offering satellite mapping, soil testing, and leaf and water analysis. Its platform, MYFARMWEB, integrates these datasets to offer real-time farm management support. In 2025, the company is working with hundreds of commercial farms across Southern Africa, offering AI-powered irrigation scheduling and nutrient planning to increase productivity sustainably. The company utilises other cutting–edge technologies like IoT and robotics to create a more sustainable, efficient, and productive agricultural system. Agri Technovation believes that technology and innovation are the formula for the future. In addition, their technologies and farming techniques, like precision farming, data-driven insights, and advanced automation, are all aimed at optimising resource utilisation and maximising yields. Furthermore, AgriTechnovation emphasizes collaboration and knowledge sharing among stakeholders to drive innovation. Through the facilitation of access to capital and technology, they empower smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods and increase productivity. The company was founded in 2014 by Schalk Lubbe and Erik de Vries who are both joint Chief Executive Officers.
7. Agrigistics
Source: Agrigistics.
Agrigistics is known for boosting farm productivity with smart tools like biometric workforce management, payroll integration and pest surveillance. Agrigistics, with her advanced farm operating system, has experienced exponential growth since the time it was founded in 2019.
The organisation was founded by a team of three individuals: Cilliers Geldenhuys, Johan Ferreira, and Luke Kroon. Luke also doubles as the head of product. They started the company to address rising labour costs in agriculture by providing a farm operations platform that tracks and optimises labour and productivity.
The company has grown over the years with 400% growth in 2021. The company has built capacity and robust digital infrastructure and has expanded to support 60 farms and 4,000 workers in South Africa. The company integrates real-time analytics to optimise costs of labour while boosting productivity.
8. Revolute Systems
Revolute Systems South Africa is becoming uniquely innovative in 2025 by leveraging the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies to address specific South African challenges and contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Revolute Systems is increasing its influence in developing precision agriculture hardware and software tools. From electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors for soil profiling to climate forecasting dashboards, the STARTUP equips farmers with real-time field data. In 2025, Revolute is testing autonomous scouting robots that monitor field conditions, collect data, and generate action plans. The company was founded in 2017 by Jacobus Els and Berno Greyling. Jacobus is the Chief Operating Officer, while Berno is also the Mechatronics Engineer.
9. Maltento
Source: Pitch Book
Founded in Cape Town, Maltento uses insect biotechnology to create sustainable animal feed ingredients specifically for pet food and aquaculture feed, and soil enhancers. By converting organic waste streams into high-value insect protein using black soldier fly larvae, Maltento supports circular food systems. Their innovations are showing how waste can be a resource as feed, fertilizer, or fuel while proffering solutions that enhance climate resilience.
In 2025, Maltento has partnered with poultry producers and aquaculture businesses to offer feed that is both environmentally sustainable and cost-effective. In addition to the naturally regenerative process and products, Maltento actively invest in initiatives that help to restore the balance of nature. Their innovations use 95 times less land, 26 times less water, and 7.7 times less CO2. The organisation was founded in 2018 by Dean Smorenburg and Dominic Malan. Dean is the Chief Executive Officer, while Dominic is the commercial director.
10. Agrigate One
Source: Agrigate One
Agrigate One is a B2B platform that streamlines the procurement of fresh produce. By aggregating data on pricing, availability, logistics, and quality, Agrigate One acts as a digital bridge between large buyers (retailers, processors) and smallholder farmers and cooperatives, especially for global perishable supply chains. The platform also offers logistics coordination and cold chain tracking, ensuring that produce reaches from farm to fork without spoilage. Agrigate One Ltd was founded in 2019 by Greg Whitaker, who is also the Chief Executive Officer. Agrigate’s unique position in the South African startup landscape stems from its focus on a mobile-based, cashless B2B supply platform specifically designed to serve the needs of millions of small and medium-sized vendors in African urban markets. This approach allows them to drastically reduce the daily costs of goods for these vendors by leveraging inefficiencies in informal value chains and wholesale providers. The organisation is closing the gap between remote rural farmers and urban formal markets. This is achieved using affordable mobile solutions and vernacular-language support on their platforms. The innovation is pioneering an inclusive transaction with marginalised farming communities’ entry into the market.
Final Reflections
The agritech landscape in South Africa is vibrant, solution-oriented, and increasingly exportable. These organisations spotlighted are using various degrees and forms of technology to redefine solutions in the agriculture space and showing what is possible with technology integration. From drones and sensors to digital marketplaces and platforms to biotech, they are not only enhancing the efficiencies of the food system; they are also transforming the processes of food production for the continent and the world. These companies, along with others, are set to continue to play leading roles in shaping the next decade of African agriculture.
