Indian agritech VeGrow secures seed funding
Indian agricultural technology start-up VeGrow raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Ankur Capital and Matrix Partners India.
Other investors that also took part in the fundraise include Better Capital, Titan Capital and a number of angel investors.
Founded in 2019, Vegrow offers a technology platform that aggregates output from small farms to help them meet demand from agricultural product buyers. It promises to increase land utilization, offer crop-planning solutions, and assist in realizing economies of scale, such as buying agricultural inputs in bulk. The start-up says it would seek to share profits accrued from the usage of the platform with farmers.
Vegrow was founded by four individuals who previously worked at on-demand offline-to-online services platform Urban Company, agricultural advisory start-up AgroStar, and fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer ITC. It is currently targeting farmers and agricultural buyers in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
“We are partnering with farmers and building value chains for identified commodities. We are investing in farm technology and supply chain technology to help us realize a higher value for our farmers, all of this is rallied around a single point agenda which is to build and serve India’s largest farmer community,” said Shobhit Jain, a co-founder at Vegrow, according to a statement.
Ankur Capital, an Indian early-stage investor focused on healthcare and agriculture technology investments, is looking to raise INR3.5 billion for its second fund. Earlier in the year, it achieved a first close of INR2.4 billion ($33 million). Previously, it invested in online seed retailer BigHaat and CropIn Technology Solutions, another farm management software provider.
Other agricultural technology start-ups in the country that received venture capital backing this year include marketplaces Bijak and DeHaat, greenhouse farming technology provider Clover, fresh food supplier WayCool Foods, and Intello Labs, a provider of food quality inspection software.
In India, Matrix has investments in 49 start-ups. Recent activity involves logistics platform LoadShare Networks, corporate travel booking platform Itilite, and rewards-based quiz app Zupee.
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