AgriData wants to be bridge between farmers and technology

farmers to grow high-value crops in Sabah.

He opined that Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia has not “really looked into high-value crops as much”.

Matthew explained that it is a usual practice to crossbreed plants in order to produce the best produce “in terms of size, sweetness and juiciness”, which is a hybrid seedling. The company aspires to bring the Japanese strawberry hybrid seedling and cultivation methods to Sabah.

“To bring the expertise here to (Sabah), to work with our smallholder farmers because AgriData has a database of farmers. We not only look at which farmers to fund but also potentially how to improve their cultivation method. In Japan, they try to form a new breed that is suitable for the local climate and that is what we want to bring.”

He said the company aspires to be the “bridge to connect the local farmers and the technology” through a joint venture.

Matthew shared that the Philippines would be a potential choice for expansion, followed by

Vietnam and Indonesia. He added that the company will look for potential partnerships from existing entities in the country that is servicing a similar sector. He reckoned that expansion to the countries will occur as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

Currently, the company is based on a business-to-business model and offers free subscription services, with over 500 free users on the platform, with 95% from Sabah and 5% from Peninsular Malaysia. Moreover, there have been a few enquiries from Thai farmers.

“I think we’ve barely scratched the surface because on our date database, we have over 30,000 farmers, but (users of) our application is only over 500” he said.

On outlook, Matthew believes that 2023 is the most optimistic for the industry for the last three years.

He said the company has several projects in the pipeline. It has completed projects with Khazanah Nasional, Think City and Sabah Credit. Currently, it is open to talking with local banks and investors.