MyRain and KSNM Marketing Announce Partnership

MyRain to distribute KSNM products in southern Tamil Nadu

Madurai— January 22, 2013 — Today, MyRain announces an exclusive distribution partnership with KSNM Marketing of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to bring innovative agricultural machinery to the farmers of Tamil Nadu.

“KSNM manufactures excellent, customer-focused products with great care for quality and affordability,” said Steele Lorenz, CEO at MyRain.  “In particular, we are excited to offer KSNM solutions for drip irrigation, coconut tree climbing and sugarcane dethrashing through our dealer network to the small plot farmers of southern Tamil Nadu”.

Positive Customer Impact

Many farmers are already enjoying the increased yields and decreased costs that come from using KSNM products.  This new partnership will bring high impact KSNM products like drip irrigation and direct paddy seeders to 11 additional districts in south Tamil Nadu.  Mr. C.V. Madeswaran, Managing Director of KSNM, said “Both organizations are aligned on improving lives of small plot farmers through the introduction of technology.  MyRain has developed a great channel that will allow us to efficiently reach and impact more farmers in Tamil Nadu.  Together we will work towards our mutual goal of improving rural livelihoods”.

Available Now!

MyRain will begin offering KSNM products immediately through their network of dealers.  Additionally, MyRain will aggressively expand its geographical footprint in southern Tamil Nadu to increase the number of small plot farmers that have access to KSMN and other impactful farm technologies.

Founded in 2010, MyRain launched to provide small plot farmers access to this technology by creating a retail and distribution network focused on the four main tenets of accessibility; education, availability, price and service. Since its inception, MyRain has built an efficient distribution network to distribute drip irrigation and more than 20 other high impact farm implements to the small farmers of Tamil Nadu, India.  With the mission of enabling sustainable economic development for small plot farmers, MyRain continues to expand its dealer network and product offerings every day!

Established in the year 2001, KSNM Marketing is one of the eminent manufacturers of agricultural implements in India. Its main motto is to offer products that are focused on enhancing productivity and improving the livelihoods of small farmers.

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The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, press only:

Manikandana

+91.90372.12371

mani@myraininda.com

www.myrainindia.com

www.ksnm.co.in

“The problem we’re trying to solve is really how to get new farm technology into the hands of rural farmers. If we are right, this isn’t just an India solution, this is a global solution.”

Check out the full article here

A University of Minnesota business school graduate quit his day job as a business consultant to purse his entrepreneurial passion to help subsistence farmers in India. The result is a for-profit business that provides low-cost drip irrigation systems.

MyRain CEO Steele Lorenz, the business grad, and his chief operating officer, Sri Latha Ganti, a University of Minnesota engineering graduate, were part of the 2010 Acara Challenge, a course and competition sponsored by the U of M’s Institute on the Environment, which helps budding social entrepreneurs create businesses designed to make an environmentally sound buck.

Read the whole article here…

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/21/2012) —A University of Minnesota student project aimed at boosting local economies in India has acquired funding to launch a for-profit social venture that will offer efficient drip irrigation systems to rural farmers in developing countries.

MyRain LLC began as the brainstorm of a team of participating in the 2010 Acara Challenge, a course and competition sponsored by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment that helps budding social entrepreneurs develop plans for businesses that make a positive change in the world. After completing the Acara competition, the project leaders incorporated their business and refined plans to the point where they could solicit funding from investors.

Check the whole article here:

Also, coverage from the Master in Engineering program highlighting alumni and Co-founder Sri Latha Ganti.

Sri Latha Ganti’s (MSSE 2011) new project, MyRain LLC, has acquired funding to launch a for-profit social venture to boost local economies in India. Ganti is the co-founder and COO of MyRain, which offers efficient drip irrigation systems to rural farmers in developing countries.

Ganti’s project began as the brainstorm of a team of participating in the 2010 Acara Challenge, a course and competition sponsored by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. The competition helps budding social entrepreneurs develop plans for businesses that make a positive change in the world. After completing the Acara competition, the project leaders incorporated their business and refined plans to the point where they could solicit funding from investors.

Read more here

MyRain is a for-profit social venture formed following the 2010 Acara Challenge competition. The company will offer efficient drip irrigation systems to rural farmers in developing countries.

“I am pleased to announce that the capital raised from our initial angel investment round is sufficient to fund MyRain’s first year of operations in the Tamil Nadu region of southern India,” said Steele Lorenz, co-founder and CEO of MyRain. Using the capital from this first round of angel investment, Steele is moving to India to launch operations.

“In many parts of rural India, small-plot farmers rely on flood irrigation, an approach that stunts crops and washes away valuable soil nutrients,” said Sri Latha Ganti, co-founder & COO of MyRain. “By implementing drip irrigation, rural farmers can increase water and fertilizer efficiency by 20 to 50 percent and increase yields by 30 to 100 percent. MyRain also will stimulate local job creation by hiring salespeople from villages and training them to sell, construct and use drip irrigation systems.”

According to Fred Rose, co-director of Acara and a member of MyRain’s advisory board, drip irrigation technology has proliferated to only 5 percent of arable land in India despite its advantages.

MyRain’s purpose is to provide small plot farmers access to drip irrigation technology by addressing the four main tenets of accessibility: education, availability, price and service.  Through efficient irrigation, MyRain creates sustainable economic development for small plot and subsistence farmers. The company’s strategic partners include Acara and the Covenant Centre for Development.

“We expect to raise an additional round of angel capital before I leave for India next month,” Lorenz said. “The capital from our second angel investment round will be used to finance MyRain’s second year of operations through to profitability.”

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