Technology can solve issues that plague the agricultural sector - Pushkar Limaye, Co-Founder & CTO, Carnot Technologies

The journey and inspiration behind Carnot Technologies

Technology was always a way to create an impact for Mr Pushkar Limaye, and after learning from Carsense. He decided to start in agriculture, where he saw great potential for disruption. With 7 people and a 200 sqft office in Mumbai, Carnot began its journey with the first product - Carsense, in 2015. After realising a need for a truly tech-enabled product to transform the Indian agri-tech space, the team had its Eureka moment! This was when Rental Entrepreneurs (a term coined by the Carnot Technologies team for farmers who were renting out their tractors) started using our product.

Fast forward to 2023, and the growth has been massive. Carnot's team has grown from 3 founders to a 75+strong team with core values. The REs, tech-enabled by Carnot, are more equipped with information and knowledge about their tractors. This has helped them manage their assets and income wisely. The company has grown by leaps and bounds, and Mahindra & Mahindra have also invested strategically. As Service contractors for the Krish-e app, Carnot Technologies is helping Mahindra & Mahindra tap into the farmer community to reach a wider audience of first-time tractor buyers.

The transition of Carnot Technology to an agri-tech product

Mr Pushkar believes that technology implementation in the right place can solve issues plaguing the agricultural sector. This thought process is what drove Carnot Technologies to enter the agri-tech space. To connect with the community and understand their issues first-hand, the core team spent 6 months in Uttar Pradesh and mapped out this Rental Entrepreneur persona. They deciphered the gaps in the system and realised that their telematics system could solve these problems with the telematics data. Their product is now helping these Rental Entrepreneurs streamline their income and monitor their tractors. Earlier, these Rental Entrepreneurs did not have the bandwidth to define the average of how much work their tractor had done. Still, with CarnotTechnology's help and app, they can now access the accumulated data. Their products and services now ensure that the tractor is not misused.

Besides streamlining income for the Rental Entrepreneurs, Carnot Technologies also brought them to the centre stage as a key cog in the agricultural industry, which had long been overlooked. The core idea was to bridge the gap with technology and help the agricultural sector grow with tech.

The SaaS numbers, market, ideal customer profile, and worldwide competition for Carnot

Carnot Technologies is probably the only company in India working with these Rental Entrepreneurs. Tractor telematics aids small rental tractor entrepreneurs and enterprises to streamline daily operations with data and take the guesswork out of it. The kit comprises an advanced IoT device. This device can be retrofitted onto any tractor or harvester, and it then pairs with the Krish-e app. This provides relevant insights. The web dashboard of the app can be customized based on the need of the RE or enterprises, and it is capable of supporting 100s of tractors.

The company is now working on global expansion and has already started catering to Rental Entrepreneurs in Europe and Africa. It is witnessing a massive response to the product. CarnotTechnologies has deployed its IoT kits in Benin, Tanzania and other African countries.

Challenges to persuade farmers to purchase a $100 telematics device

Selling IoT kits or any tech device to the farmers has never been easy for anyone; it tasted our patience, but our determined approach and team's effort started bearing fruits. Our approach to selling the IoT kits to REs is to educate the customers on what they can know about their hard-earned assets effectively and save significant money.Carnot Technology's advantage over other agri-tech companies is that it works in sync with the Indian agriculture sector. The company understands the need specific to the Indian agricultural sector. Realizing that these pain points and tech gaps are similar for many other locations worldwide, the IoTkit is a great product market fit overseas as well and is capable of positively impacting the farmers' income across the globe.

CarnotTechnologies products help farmers

We add real value to the ground. Carnot Technologies is all about connecting with Rental Entrepreneurs and streamlining their operations with tech implementation. The platform is very easy to use. When the company started, the primary pain point they identified was the lack of reliable tools to help the REs manage their tractors effectively. When CarnotTechnologies took its Kit to market, REs began seeing the results. The company also realised that the larger problem was the lack of awareness among the farmers. With an AI-enabled IoT Kit connected to tractors, REs use the mobile-based application for real-time live tracking of their assets, exact acreages of work done, fuel status, and Accounting solutions.