Rize, a agritech platform dedicated to making sustainable rice cultivation viable through innovative and data-driven practices at Vietnam, announces the closing of its $14 million Series A funding round.

The funding round is co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero, Temasek and Wavemaker Impact.

This investment will enhance Rize's technology stack including its Measuring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) technology and support further expansion into Indonesia, Vietnam, and across South and Southeast Asia. 

In particular, in addition to technology stack development, the funds will enable Rize to expand its operations deeper into Indonesia and Vietnam and help strengthen its team of agronomists to over 100 by the end of 2024, potentially reaching over 20,000 farmers.

Rize also has plans to expand into other rice producing South and Southeast Asian countries in 2025.

This coming season, Rize aims to improve over 7,000 ha of rice farming, demonstrating a practical path to environmental sustainability and economic improvement.

These initiatives are projected to not only lower emissions by 50% and reduce water usage by 20% but also increase farmer incomes by up to 30%, making sustainable rice farming a viable and attractive option. 

Rize’s technology stack captures vital agricultural data essential for implementing sustainable farming practices, making rice farmers more climate resilient, increasing their crop yields, lowering costs, and facilitating efficient access to finance.

This step advances Rize's goal to eliminate 100 metric tonnes of carbon emissions whilst significantly improving farmer livelihoods.

“We are confronted with the challenges of addressing the high levels of methane emissions and the water-intensive practices prevalent in rice farming, which accounts for 10% of global methane emissions, a figure that is set to rise if unchecked,” said Mr. Dhruv Sawhney, CEO of Rize.

Mr. Sawhney also adds another hurdle is the lack of precise data, particularly among the numerous smallholder farms across South and Southeast Asia, as well as the increasingly high cost of farming due to increased input prices and a changing climate.

"Our technology stack seeks to tackle these challenges," he shared. "By doing so, we are not just aiming to cut down 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions, we are also enhancing the economic stability of farmers, ensuring that improved farmer livelihoods and reduced emissions go hand-in-hand.”

“As global rice demand is projected to double by 2050, mitigating the environmental impact of rice cultivation is essential in the fight against Climate Change,” said Mr. Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

“Rize’s data-driven technology and expert team of agronomists are a powerful combination for tackling this challenge and scaling viable sustainable rice farming across Asia and globally.”

“The outcomes that Rize achieved in the last 18 months is testament to the robustness of its collective value proposition and business model,” said Marie Cheong, Founding Partner, Wavemaker Impact.

“With this round of capital injection, we have every confidence in Dhruv and team to scale the adoption of sustainable farming techniques across the region, scaling the impact of decarbonisation and livelihood improvement of smallholder farms.”