Why we’re watching: If climate is to be a megatheme for the global development community this year, data is the missing ingredient. That’s where Gro Intelligence comes in: It’s a tech company using artificial intelligence to predict how ecologies and economies will be impacted by the changing climate.

Leadership: Sara Menker, founder and CEO.
Staff: 150 to 200.
HQ: New York City and Nairobi.
Tidbit: Founded by Sara Menker, a former commodities trader originally from Ethiopia, Gro Intelligence has raised more than $125 million in venture capital, and Menker is on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2021.
Follow: Teresa Welsh, Catherine Cheney, and Devex Dish.

Analysis: When locust swarms threatened East African farms last year, the United Nations initially called to mobilize $350 million. But Gro Intelligence did its own assessment using satellite imagery and proprietary yield models, persuading officials that the real economic impact would be around $3 billion. This story, shared by Menker during a Stanford University talk in January, showcases the value of real-time data and predictive analytics for everything from agricultural development to infrastructure investments. Nonetheless, Gro Intelligence mainly serves major corporate customers in agribusiness and packaged goods, not global development organizations. That may change as the company continues to roll out its Gro for Good initiative and as development organizations contend with rapidly changing growing conditions and food insecurity. — RK.

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