AgNext Technologies sets up AI centre to drive innovation in tea industry

BENGALURU: Agritech startup AgNext Technologies in collaboration with the Tea Research Association has set up an artificial intelligence (AI) ‘Excellence Center’ at Tea Research Institute, Jorhat, Assam.

In this collaborative effort, AgNext Technologies will work on resolving the quality quotient of the tea industry with AI, internet of things (IoT), and data-driven technologies, the company said. “This excellence center will focus on innovation, improvement and enhancement of the tea quality across the supply chain and build sustainability at the core.”

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The centre is formed to research the blend of AI algorithms, automation, and big data/analytics to build cutting-edge business solutions to drive the tea industry forward in global markets.

This centre also aims to be a go-to destination for academia and industry for technical know-how, knowledge, and development of unique technologies and application areas.

AgNext has built multiple solutions for commodities like spices, grains and milk. It aims to solve prevalent problems of the $1.65 billion tea industry with the amalgamation of computer vision, IoT and molecular science, the company said.

“We are building strong relations with the industry to understand the grass-root problems and build solutions for them. By partnering with Tea Research Association, we are able to bring the latest innovations, build a more technologically enabled, future proof method to meet the goals of industry,” said Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, CEO and founder, AgNext.

Incubated at IIT Kharagpur and based in Chandigarh, AgNext has so far raised about $4 million in funding from investors like Omnivore and Kalaari Capital.

In August last year, the agriculture ministry said it will fund 234 more startups in the agriculture and allied sectors with a sum of ₹24.85 crore under a central scheme in the current fiscal. This is in addition to 112 startups already funded for a sum of ₹11.85 crore.