Zimbabwe - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

With the use of AI and GIS , HarvestMind aims to reduce post harvest losses by providing a platform which offers remote farm field motoring , real time crop performance data so that farmers make informed decisions to optimize crop yields and reduce costs

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

House Intelligent Systems is a startup aimed at creating digital solutions that benefit the people of Zimbabwe and the world as whole . Our startup comprises of 5 individuals with the same mindset of changing how things are done through the use of technology . It focuses in creating innovations that reduces the use of paper (Business ERPs) , creates affordable health care (Medical AI ), and improves agriculture (HarvestMind) . Agriculture contributes approximately 17 percent to Zimbabwes GDP and is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the population(FAO) and due to this we noticed the need for innovation(in dev) in helping farmers improve it and reduce post harvest losses by providing them a platform where they can make informed decisions through the combination of GIS and AI which inturns provides remote field monitoring and management , crop perfomance monitoring , weather analysis for farm fields and generated AI recommendations to support the farmer from seed to sell.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Agriculture contributes approximately 17 percent to Zimbabwes GDP and is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the population and due to a lot of issues like climate change , unavailability of remote farm monitoring tools , farmers have had a lot of post harvest losses which has seen the country experience hunger leading to death of the variety of the population . We want to create a Zimbabwe where agriculture remains high and yields and outputs remains high in order to feed the masses thereby promoting Zero hunger . Agriculture also remains the main source of employment for a lot of Zimbabwe and we aim to keep it up and running by improving yields through the use of technology in order to better the livelihoods of the people

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Our product aims at providing easiness in management and monitoring of farms regardless of the availability of the farmer in the physical farm areas which reduces costs for travelling from one farm to the other . Also , our product aims at providing field insights to the farmer from crop analysis and performance , weather data and AI recommendations based on the fields state. Our product also provides a platform for farmers to sell their crops hence supporting them from seed to sell

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Our product is aimed at both the non commercial and commercial farmers in Zimbabwe who struggle with the issues of field management and monitoring with our main focus on the informal farmers (non commercial) as they are many in the country and are particularly located at the rural side of Zimbabwe. We aim that by integrating indigenous languages we can be able to get as many local and rural farmers as possible to help them improve their yields.

01.05 When was your company established?

2023-05-04

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

No

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

4

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

1

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

The other 3 male owners are computer systems engineering graduates who have experience in machine learning , web app development , software engineering and data analytics . The have worked for multiple companies from Afrisoft, Econet and other ventures which totals their experience to more than 5 years . The female owner is a bioinformatics researcher whose focus is on the medicinal side and agricultural side . She is also well versed in machine learning and AI and Data analytics making her profile strong . She has worked for remote companies like Ugenome AI and local like NBA .

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

l) Farming

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

By promoting agriculture and supporting it from seed to sell , we make sure employment in the agricultural sector remains high since it is where most of the Zimbabweans are employed and make a living.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

By reducing post harvest losses , we make sure food is available in the country to the people and yields are boosted to have higher outputs .

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

By making sure yields are boosted and crop quality is monitored and maintained , this leads to good and nutritious produce which supports good health in the people

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

3

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

3

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

By making sure post harvest losses are reduced , economic growth is boosted as hunger is also reduced and employment opportunities are maintained in the agricultural industry

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

The use of GIS and AI in our platform fosters innovation through the use of well known talk of the town technologies to make agriculture great again . GIS in mapping and AI in processing and analysis of digital images results in a state of the art product .

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

3

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

4

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

Production of yields is boosted through constant monitoring with satellite imagery .

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

By leveraging crop performance monitoring and weather data analysis , Farmers can combat the impacts of climate change since they have access to forecasted weather data for a period of up to a month ahead thereby making them prepared

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

4

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

1 - Strongly Disagree

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

3

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

06.08 Justification for my startup

The product we are developing is not new . The technology has been there and other products are also there which offer the same service . The difference is the addressable market and communities . Most of the available products serve certain regions which does not include mostly the African region and that is where we come in to bring in the service

06.09 Competitive Analysis

Our main competitors are MapmyCrop , Agremo and EOSDA Crop Monitoring . What makes us stand out is the market we are addressing , we are mainly focusing on the African region as whole which is one of the region left out by most of these competitors . We are bridging that gap that they left out and come in a a provider and provide the service to out locals . Also , from assessing functionality , we are bringing in a lot of sophisticated functionality .

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?