Drone start-up makes final cut for GoGettaz Agripreneur prize
Drone startup, Integrated Aerial Systems (IAS) has been selected as one of the finalists for Generation Africa’s 2020 GoGettaz Agripreneur prize
The South African enterprise had been voted to the semi-final stage along with fellow drone proprietor, Drone Era from Benin and 22 other agriculture technology start-ups. But it will be Dexter Tangocci — co-founder and Chied Technology Officer at IAS who will be competing for the $50,000 along with five other male hopefuls.
The five other male start-ups that made the finals are Lombrisol, Solar Freeze, GoMarkit, Magofarm and Vertical and Micro Gardening.
There were also six female-led ventures who will hope to win the other $50,000 grand prize set aside for them. They comprise The Farm, OBRi, Phema Agri, Mhogo Foods, Soupah Market and Achiever Foods
IAS use drones for precision crop spraying and multi-spectral surveys to give farmers actionable data about under-performing crops. They leverage the latest developments in drone hardware and software applications to deliver to their clients accurate and actionable data in a user-friendly manner.
“We operate a fleet of drones and have extensive experience of some 35,000 hectares of field surveys” says Dexter Tangocci, co-founder and CTO. “We provide a complete end-to-end process to the farmer; by integrating drone-based crop spraying with intelligent analytics, not only are we able to help the farmer determine exactly where and how much of their crop is being impacted; we are also able to target the affected area with precise crop spraying by drone. This allows the farmer to reduce the costs and increase the yields with less impact on the environment.”
The finalists will be invited to compete in the final live or virtual pitching contest at the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) meeting between 8-11 September 2020. Depending on the Coronavirus situation this will be part of a full week of activities that finalists will be expected to attend in Nairobi, Kenya.
Founded by AGRAAlliance, Corteva Agriscience, Econet Zimbabwe, SACAU, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, and Yara International, Generation Africa is the partnership initiative with a vision to strengthen the ecosystem for youth entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector across the continent.
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