Epsilon, IL&FS lead $8m round for India’s Farm Taaza
Epsilon Venture Partners and IL&FS Investment Managers (IIML) have led an $8 million Series A round for Indian agricultural logistics player Farm Taaza Produce.
Farm Taaza will use the new capital for further expansion in south India and for technology upgrades. The company hopes to incorporate product tracking into its supply chain to improve operational efficiency and also use machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data analytics to refine the decision making process.
Founded in 2015, Farm Taaza supplies fresh produce to retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and neighborhood shops known as kiranas in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad. It sources products from over 1,400 farmers and provides 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables to clients. The company promises to deliver produce from the farms within 22 hours of harvest. Farm Taaza already incorporates technology into its offering in the form of a mobile app through which customers can place and track their orders.
The company also works with its suppliers by connecting farmers with expert advice on improving their yield and field operations. This extends to partnerships with Indian agricultural universities to bring improved farm technologies to the field.
Farm Taaza raised a $1 million seed round last year from participants including Sudheer Kuppam, the founder and managing partner of Epsilon. Kuppam launched Epsilon in 2015 following his departure from Intel Capital. The firm’s other deals include leading a INR1.5 billion ($23 million) Series A round last year for data center and cloud service provider Pi Datacenters, in whose seed round Kuppam had also participated.
According to statements posted by Kuppam on his Twitter account, Epsilon recently launched its first dedicated India fund, Epsilon India Fund. The vehicle has registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and secured an anchor commitment from an undisclosed domestic financial institution. It is expected to begin fundraising later this month with a target of INR6.75 billion.
Currently, Epsilon is raising its debut pan-Asia fund, which marked its first close this year and is aiming to reach a final close of $350 million by early 2017.
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