Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall are putting pressure on Asia's water-intensive rice farming. Enter Mitti Labs, a climate-tech startup with a $9.5 million injection from Aramco Ventures, aiming to make smallholder farms more efficient and eco-friendly.

Mitti Labs combines satellite imagery, AI, and field data to monitor crop conditions, optimize water use, and reduce methane emissions. Its platform creates digital twins of rice fields, allowing real-time monitoring across thousands of smallholder farms in India.

The startup has seen rapid growth from 8,000 farmers in its first season to over 100,000 this year, with plans to reach millions by 2030. Farmers adopting their practices can reduce water use by up to 40% and methane emissions by more than 50%, all while generating carbon credits.

With operations set to expand to the Philippines later this year and into Southeast Asia in 2027, Mitti Labs plans to serve both compliance and voluntary carbon markets. The partnership with Aramco Ventures highlights a growing interest in applying AI to agriculture for sustainability.