BRV leads $140m Series C for Korea's Green Labs
BRV Capital Management has led a KRW 170bn (USD 140m) Series C round for Green Labs, a Korea-based agricultural technology start-up seeking to digitalise the food production value chain.
Skylake Incuvest and SK Square also took part in the round. ZDNet Korea reported that BRV put in KRW 100bn, with Skylake and SK Square contributing KRW 35bn apiece.
AVCJ Research’s records show that Green Labs received KRW 2m in seed funding from Magna Investment and CKD Venture Capital in 2018, a year after it was founded. Magna re-upped for a KRW 6.5bn Series A in 2020, joined by Main Street Investments and Sangsang Ventures. Early last year, Magna, Main Street, and Hashed Ventures provided KRW 20bn in Series B funding.
Led by CEOs Sang-Hoon Shin, Dong-Hyun Ahn, and Seong-Woo Choi, Green Labs said in a statement that it aspires to take its agriculture data capabilities into global markets. The company has already established partnerships in China and Vietnam.
In the domestic market, Green Labs provides digital farm management solutions to more than 500,000 users, accounting for half the farm households in Korea. Revenue reached KRW 100bn in 2021, a fourfold increase on 2020.
It has two core products: Farm Morning, an agricultural data platform used by farmers to optimise crop cultivation; and Fresh Market, a B2B platform that connects farms with wholesale and commercial buyers of produce.
Venture capital investors have supported agtech start-ups across Asia, such as DeHaat and Arya in India and TaniGroup in Southeast Asia that pursue versions of the B2B platform model. Aggregating demand and supply – so that farmers get a better deal on inputs and outputs – and the provision of financial services are common themes.
Recent agriculture sector deals featuring Korean investors include a USD 64.5m commitment from IMM Investment to Pure Harvest Smart Farms, an Abu Dhabi-based vertical farming company that uses greenhouse technology to grow vegetables year-round. Expansion into Korea will come through a partnership with PlanTFarm, in which IMM is the largest shareholder.
More on North Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.