Tatiana Malvasio, Kilimo | Lessons on Founding, Growing and Attracting Talent in Agtech [Ep. 94]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

Agtech is a sector where there have not yet been major success stories, even though the economies of Latin America depend in large part on agriculture.

We spoke with Tatiana Malvasio, COO and cofounder of Kilimo, a SaaS platform that tells farmers when and how much to irrigate their crops, generating up to 30% savings in water. In addition, its data has allowed it to build a water compensation marketplace, where large companies pay farmers for saving water.

To date, Kilimo monitors more than 150,000 hectares across Latin America, has saved more than 70 billion liters of water, and has raised USD $1M from investors such as NXTP, Alaya Capital, iThink, and The Yield Lab.

We talked about the technical challenges of creating technology products for agriculture. Tatiana also told us about the commercial and content strategies for attracting farmers and increasing the use of their technology.

Youtube Timestamps*

[1:33] - How to Start a Company in Agtech

How did Tatiana arrive at the fascinating world of startups?
What led Tatiana to start a company in the agriculture sector, without having prior experience?
How difficult was it for Tatiana to learn everything related to the agriculture industry?
Agtech is a sector where we still have not seen major success stories in Latin America. What is difficult about this market according to Tatiana? What participants or particularities make it difficult for a startup to scale?
Agriculture is an industry led by older generations, less familiar with technology. What change has Tatiana seen in that regard?
In the particular case of monitoring and water management in the agricultural sector. Before Kilimo, was some other tool used, was the water measured, or what was the preexisting practice? And what things did they see that motivated them to start a company in this space?
How much do farmers value the water saved?
What did Kilimo’s initial software look like in the first months, and what barriers did they have to face to bring their product to market?
What was Tatiana’s commercial approach with the farmers so she could get close enough to offer them her solution?
Thinking about Kilimo’s product roadmap, from the data they collect they have started to enable powerful features such as the water compensation marketplace. What profile of companies are the ones that participate in this marketplace?

[25:55] - Sales, GTM, and Adoption

Camila Petignat of The Yield Lab told us how the pandemic was a radical change in the way things were sold in the agtech sector. What important changes did the pandemic bring for Kilimo in terms of attracting customers and selling its product?
In Mexico, ~70% of planted hectares are in the hands of small farmers. One would think this makes it hard to scale a product like theirs. What differences has Tatiana found between the Argentine market and that of new countries?
Kilimo’s Irrigation Academy has 75,000 subscribers from across the region. What was the idea behind creating it, and what strategic value does it have for Kilimo?
What return on investment did Tatiana find from the Academy?
With all the changes that have been happening in recent years (new sustainability goals, interest in environmental impact), does Tatiana see any growing interest from investors in educating themselves about the water and agriculture market?

[43:39] - Culture for Attracting Talent

When going from 10 to 100 employees: What lessons have you learned about how to maintain a strong culture, in a context of high growth?
Agtech is not exactly the best-funded sector of startups. How does Tatiana build a culture that competes against high salaries and attracts great talent, without having the budgets of other companies?

[53:48] - Rapid-Fire Round

If she had to start a company from scratch, what is the main piece of advice Tatiana would give herself?
Books recommended by Tatiana
Changes Tatiana would like to see in Latin America’s startup ecosystem