Sequoia, Tiger, Alpha Wave invest $100m in India agtech player
Indian agriculture technology start-up Absolute Foods has confirmed USD 100m in recent funding from Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management, and Alpha Wave Global at a valuation of USD 500m.
QED Innovation Labs and LV Angel Fund joined Sequoia, Tiger, and Alpha Wave in an investment in the company as recently as January, according to AVCJ Research. Last year, Sequoia’s incubation unit and seed investor, Surge, provided around USD 2m.
Absolute is a plant bioscience company that combines phytology, microbiology, omics, molecular biology, epigenetics and artificial intelligence. Since its inception in 2015, it has been developing a project touted as the first universal farm operating system with precision farming intellectual property for more than 60 different crops.
"When we hit the outskirts of Haryana, we were amazed by what we saw,” Sequoia India investment team professionals Abhishek Mohan, Prachi Pawar, and GV Ravishankar said in a statement describing an initial visit to the company's precision farming complex.
“One verdant farm after another, all part of the Absolute’s network, stretched endlessly as we drove on. We were stunned by the absolute scale of it. And the produce itself was almost ludicrous. The capsicums were much larger and more delicious than what you’d find in markets; the tomatoes and cucumbers looked more wholesome and brighter than anything we’d seen.”
Absolute uses internet-of-things devices to monitor farm conditions and provide instructions to farmers on every step of the crop lifecycle. This is said to increase farmer yield up to 20% by increasing the quality of the produce while decreasing reliance on synthetic products and chemical fertilisers.
The company is active in 12 Indian states and is said to be one of the largest operators of its kind globally with a footprint of more than 100,000 acres. It also exports fruit and vegetables to more than 10 countries. Scale has been achieved in part by working with farmer producer organisations rather than individual farmers.
“Farmer profitability rises meaningfully, driven by an increase in yield and quality of produce. This allows Absolute to trade globally at healthy margins,” Navroz D Udwadia, Alpha Wave co-founder Navroz Udwadia said, according to The Economic Times. “With science and data driven decision making at its heart, we believe Absolute will be a global leading player in the agtech space.”
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