Rize team in Việt Nam. — Photo courtesy of Rize

Rize, a pioneering agritech platform dedicated to making sustainable rice cultivation viable through innovative and data-driven practices, announced the closing of its US$14 million Series A funding round on Thursday.

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

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

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

In addition to technology stack development, the funds will enable Rize to expand its operations deeper into Indonesia and Việt Nam and help to increase the number of agronomists it uses to over 100 by the end of this year, potentially reaching over 20,000 farmers.

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

“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 Carmichael Roberts, of 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.”

“We are proud to continue our investment in Rize. 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, the founding partner of Wavemaker Impact. — VNS