A serendipitous meeting with a shrimp farmer has prompted this IITK alumnus to start an impact venture that helps fish and shrimp farmers increase their farm revenue through technology intervention. With the help of data sciences and AI models, Rajamanohar Somasundaram is solving some of the major challenges faced by Indian aquaculture farmers. His mission to provide a platform for Indian farmers to access and adopt modern technologies in aquaculture has changed the lives of many rural and coastal farmers in the country. This is where Rajamanohar started his journey from a serial technology entrepreneur to the ‘Aquaman of India’.

In India, Aquaculture is a popular livelihood activity for many farmers in the coastal regions. The lack of scientific farming practices, lower technology adoption results in Higher production cost, production losses, inefficiency in the supply chain. 1 out of 4 shrimp farmers in the country faces the risk of losing their farm income due to the disease outbreak. With extensive experience in building the Internet and mobile technology-driven businesses, Rajamanohar co-founded Aquaconnect along with Shanmuga Sundararaj and Sanjai Kumar, in the year of 2017 to promote the technology-driven sustainable shrimp farming practices in India.

Raj and his team created a solution to predict diseases and increase farm revenues through ‘FarmMOJO’, a farm advisory app with data-driven decision-making capability. This user-friendly mobile application addresses every need of shrimp farmers, from stocking to harvest that includes monitoring water quality, feed intake and disease prediction. FarmMOJO also connects the farmers with the upstream (Hatcheries, Feed producers, farm equipment manufacturers, lenders, Insurers) and downstream of the supply chain (Processors, Exporters, and certifying bodies).

Currently, FarmMOJO is working with more than 4000 farmers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujrat. Farmers can call Aquaconnect helpline 1800 123 1263 to get technical advisory and place orders for affordable feed, healthcare products and farm equipment for their farm activities. They can also download FarmMOJO app on Android play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cari.farm_mojo&hl=en_IN

Today, Rajamanohar is popularly known as the ‘Aquaman of India’ for making aquaculture technology more accessible, including for farmers in the rural and coastal regions of the country. World Economic Forum has recognized him as a “Young Global Leader in 2012” by considering the leadership and contribution in the field of mobile communication and information services. He became a ‘TED Fellow’ in 2009 for his accomplishments in ‘Mobile4Good’ initiatives in Asia and Africa.

Through his venture Aquaconnect, Raj is promoting sustainable aquaculture (growing fish and shrimp) with technology intervention and he envisions Artificial Intelligence technology, IoT and Satellite Remote Sensing to improve the productivity of the Indian aquaculture industry and make India the world's aquaculture hub.