Connect with:
Friday / December 20. 2024

logo
mobile-logo
HomePosts Tagged "OMNIVORE"
Agribusiness, Agrotech, Company News, Dairy, Finance, Funding, India

The round saw participation from existing investors (Blume Ventures, Omnivore, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IDH Farmfit Fund, 500 Startups & Blue Ashva Capital), and new investor Miledeep Capital.

Dairy tech startup Stellapps Technologies announced that company has raised $26 million in its Series C funding round in equity & debt to accelerate its mooMark business. The round saw participation from existing investors (Blume Ventures, Omnivore, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IDH Farmfit Fund, 500 Startups & Blue Ashva Capital), and new investor Miledeep Capital, with debt funding provided by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

mooMark is focused on contract manufacturing and private labelled dairy business of high-quality value-added dairy products, that are both sustainable and traceable. Incubated at IIT Madras, Stellapps started as a Dairy IoT solutions provider, and has now ventured into contract manufacturing and private labelling of value-added dairy products under the “‘mooMark’” brand. The company utilises a “low-capex and tech-powered approach” to deliver these products to Indian and global customers.  Stellapps’ dairy-tech is deployed in over 42,000 villages, enabling the movement of more than 14 million liters of milk every day.

“We are excited to receive continued commitment from our existing investors and welcome aboard new investors as part of our Series C round. This capital will help mooMark scale its value-added dairy product offering to its customers across India in a sustainable manner and strengthen its export segment going forward,” said Ranjith Mukundan, CEO of Stellapps.

The round saw participation from existing investors

Agbiologicals, Agribusiness, Finance, Funding, Start ups

The company plans to launch its existing range of innovative biostimulants in North America, Brazil & Southeast Asia with trials in the US currently underway.

BioPrime, a pioneer in the biologicals space, announced today that it has raised a $6 million Series A round, led by Edaphon, with equal participation from existing investors Omnivore and Inflexor. This investment marks Belgium-based Edaphon’s first investment in Asia. This investment will fuel BioPrime’s research in the crop protection segment, focusing on the co-development of novel biofungicides & bioinsecticides.

The company plans to launch its existing range of innovative biostimulants in North America, Brazil & Southeast Asia with trials in the US currently underway. Furthermore, BioPrime plans to advance & accelerate product development based on BioNexus, the patented technology platform, which has identified over 170 novel microbial strains from its library of close to 18,000 strains. BioPrime will continue to steadily move away from a one-product-fits-all approach and enhance B2B customer experience by offering products customized to the exact customer needs. The startup’s goal remains – From Nature, For Nature.

Dr. Renuka Diwan, Co-founder & CEO, commented on the funding, “Securing this investment is a testimony to the strength & impact of our technology and the dedication of our team. We will continue to pursue our strategic priorities of accelerating the development of industry solutions in the biologicals space. We look forward to enhancing the offerings to our existing B2B customers & entering into strategic co-development & licensing with industry players.”

“We invested in BioPrime because of its impressive balance between a strong portfolio of commercial products and a high-potential innovation pipeline. The company has already demonstrated success in delivering impactful solutions to the market, while its advanced R&D platform is set to unlock significant future growth. Operating within India’s rapidly growing biostimulant market, BioPrime is deeply connected to the country’s agricultural core, providing crucial solutions to smallholder farmers and addressing sustainability challenges. This combination of proven market performance, forward-looking innovation, and strong market potential makes BioPrime well-positioned to drive both immediate and long-term impact” says Vincent Vliebergh, Managing Partner of Edaphon.

The current round of investment further strengthens the growth path being charted by BioPrime leveraging its IP and consumer product portfolio. It also further deepens the conviction on the biologicals space in India,” quoted Pratip Mazumdar, Managing Partner of Inflexor.

“The climate crisis threatens the very future of agrifood systems and rural communities across India.  The complex web of challenges threatening food security and rural livelihoods demands innovative approaches with potential for systemic change,” says Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner of Omnivore. “Our investment in BioPrime underscores our steadfast commitment to advancing sustainable farming practices.”

The company plans to launch its existing

Agribusiness, Company News, Finance, Funding, India, Speciality Chemicals, Start ups

With this new round, the company plans to double down on their R&D capabilities and add more geographies where key customer segments lie.

Speciality chemical manufacturing startup Scimplify announced today that it has raised USD 9.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Omnivore, alongside Bertelsmann India Investments and existing investors 3one4 Capital and Beenext. Scimplify is a leading specialty chemicals company in India offering a science-first, end-to-end contract manufacturing platform for agrochemicals, pharmaceutical APIs, and flavours & fragrances. In 2023, the global speciality chemicals market was valued at over USD 800 billion, with agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals contributing to more than 60 per cent of the market. Notably, India stands as the 2nd largest exporter of agrochemicals worldwide, and the overall Indian chemical industry is poised to reach double in output by 2027. Scimplify’s diversified services encompass contract research and commercial chemical manufacturing across various sectors, including agrochemicals, pharmaceutical APIs, and flavours & fragrances. With increasing demand for new formulations to support the green transition, shifts in global supply chains away from China and towards India, as well as manufacturing incentives from the Indian government, Scimplify is strategically positioned to cater to a substantial customer base in India and across the globe.

Based out of Bengaluru, Scimplify was founded in 2023 by Salil Srivastava and Sachin Santhosh. Salil previously led the chemicals vertical at Zetwerk and began his career with ITC Limited, while Sachin is an IIT-Madras alumnus who was earlier with Bizongo and began his career with of Business. The founders launched Scimplify to enable comprehensive solutions for the global specialty chemical industry with an emphasis on green manufacturing, quality, and innovation. With this new round, the company plans to double down on their R&D capabilities and add more geographies where key customer segments lie.

Salil Srivastava, Co-Founder of Scimplify, stated, “The backbone of Indian specialty chemical manufacturing are mid-sized factories that have built in-depth, chemistry specific expertise over decades. However, there is significant available capacity to double the national output in the next 5 years with the given infrastructure. Scimplify brings together unique products to these factories using cutting edge R&D along with consistent demand from global customers to utilize these capacities and provide a tech-enabled, full-stack offering to the modern agile customer.”

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Omnivore, observed, “Scimplify’s science-driven platform delivers affordable, sustainable agrochemicals and green chemistry intermediaries. By streamlining R&D and manufacturing of sustainable formulations, they’re meeting global demands and positioning India as a leader in sustainable manufacturing of chemical intermediaries. Their approach satisfies regulatory requirements, consumer needs, and environmental concerns, elevating industry standards.”

Rohit Sood, Managing Partner of Bertelsmann India Investments, added “We are excited to partner with Salil & Sachin on their venture to create value in the specialty chemicals industry through a full stack approach. Their unique science, technology & supply-first approach is best suited to leverage the increasing diversification of global supply chains while providing a big boost to the nation’s ‘Made in India’ drive.”

With this new round, the company plans

Agribusiness, Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

Agrizy aims to transform India into a global food processing hub by helping FPOs and MSME agri-processors access export markets.

Agri-processing platform Agrizy announced today that it has raised USD 9.8 million (Rs 82 crores) in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Accion and Omnivore, with participation from Capria Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, and existing investor Ankur Capital.

India’s $400 billion agri-processing market, though growing 9 per cent annually, faces a bottleneck: only 10 per cent of farm produce gets processed today. This pales in comparison to global leaders like China (40 per cent) and developed nations (70 per cent). India has more than 2 million food processing MSMEs, which operate significantly under capacity and struggle to find B2B customers, especially in export markets.

Agrizy is helping to solve these challenges, providing MSMEs with a fully managed B2B marketplace for agrifood supply chains and processing. The platform connects every stakeholder in the agrifood processing ecosystem to optimally discover and fulfil transactions. The startup works closely with agrifood processing MSMEs, offering them a suite of digital services to generate additional long-term revenues and improve their operating margins, while streamlining their procurement and sales cycles.

Agrizy was co-founded in 2021 by Vicky Dodani and Saket Chirania, who previously worked in senior roles with leading Indian startups including Blackbuck, Bizongo, and Zoomcar. With the new funding, Agrizy aims to expand into new product areas and geographies; launch CDMO and value-added advisory services; and offer financial services to MSME processors and farmer-producer organizations (FPOs). 

Vicky Dodani, Co-founder and CEO at Agrizy, said, “Agrizy aims to transform India into a global food processing hub by helping FPOs and MSME agri-processors access export markets and comply with global quality standards, while offering these underserved stakeholders working capital from formal financial institutions. The current investment will empower Agrizy to actively drive these crucial initiatives in both local and global markets.”

John Fischer, Chief Investment Officer at Accion, said: “Agrizy is seeking to reshape traditional agri-processing by providing a robust marketplace and support to improve production. The company aims to also address the lack of quality financing for small processors and the Farmer Producer Organizations that supply them, helping to increase incomes in rural communities. Through our partnership with Agrizy, we will leverage Accion’s global expertise to help the company grow, connecting many processors and smallholder farmers to responsible financial services and formal markets for the first time.”

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, stated, “We are proud of our partnership with Agrizy and their vision of upgrading the Indian agri-processing sector. The company’s foray into contract manufacturing is critical for streamlining intricate, export-oriented supply chains. By prioritizing innovation and sustainability, Agrizy is positioning India’s food processing industry to meet evolving global market needs.

Agrizy aims to transform India into a

Agribusiness, Dairy, Finance, India, Start ups

The company plans to use funds for manufacturing, team building, and expansion in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Sid’s Farm, the dairy brand announced that the company has secured $10 Mn (Rs 83 Cr) in a Series A funding round co-led by Omnivore and Narotam Sekhsaria’s family office. The Telangana-based startup plans to use the freshly raised money to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities, team building and expanding to cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The Telangana-based D2C dairy startup plans to use funds for manufacturing, team building, and expansion in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Kishore Indukuri, founder of Sid’s Farm, said, “This investment will accelerate our growth in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. We strongly believe that there is an opportunity to serve over 1,00,000 families every day in these two markets alone.”

“Premium dairy brands and products over D2C platforms are expected to lead (the) growth (in the overall Indian dairy space) We see Sid’s Farm emerging as a key player in this space with its commitment to antibiotic-free, hormone-free, preservative-free milk and milk products,” said Reihem Roy, partner at Omnivore.

Founded in 2016 by Indukuri, Sid’s Farm currently serves around 20,000 customers daily on a subscription basis, offering a range of products, including milk, and milk products.

The company plans to use funds for

Agrotech, Funding, India, Industry Reports / Analysis

This reduction aligns closely with the global decline in agrifood tech investments, which fell by 50 per cent year-over-year

AgFunder and Omnivore have released the sixth India AgriFoodTech Investment Report, detailing just under $1 billion in startup investment, a 60 per cent year-over-year decline from $2.4 billion in 2022. However, India maintained a steady deal activity with 129 deals, only slightly fewer than in 2022. This reduction aligns closely with the global decline in agrifoodtech investments, which fell by 50 per cent year-over-year. 

Unlike the global market, however, the total funds raised by Indian agrifood startups were not far off from the $1.3 billion garnered in pre-Covid 2019, suggesting a normalisation of market conditions after a period of excessive valuations. A concerning trend is the limited participation of agrifood investors, with Omnivore being one of the few remaining, alongside generalist and climate-focused VCs. This scenario underscores the need for more committed investors across all stages. 

Below are some of the highlights of the report:

In 2023, Indian agrifood tech startups raised $940 million across 129 deals, down 60 per cent from 2022.

The number of deals remained almost flat with 129 closing in 2023 compared to 133 deals in 2022, indicating smaller deal sizes given the steep decline in dollars raised. 

More early-stage deals closed in 2023 than 2022 indicating continued interest by investors in the category but at much lower valuations than in previous years.

The median deal sizes dropped significantly year-on-year across stages and most dramatically at the late stages: 50 per cent at the early stages (Seed and Series A), 39 per cent at the growth stages (Series B and C) and 89 per cent at Series D and later.

Both AgFunder and Omnivore continue to explore deals that push beyond traditional agrifood boundaries into adjacent sectors, highlighting the growing interconnectedness of food, agriculture, and other industries like climate tech. Despite a decrease in the median deal sizes, the willingness to invest persists, although at lower ticket sizes, with Ag Marketplaces and eGrocery receiving the most attention yet again. However, there are fewer players in the market than before, reflecting Power Law dynamics.  

This reduction aligns closely with the global

Agribusiness, Company News, Finance, Funding, India

The startup is building a B2B insurance distribution and servicing platform for institutions working with the underserved, including NBFCs, MFIs, BC networks, Nidhi companies, cooperatives, NGOs, and FPOs.

Finhaat, an insurance platform for India’s emerging segments, announced today that it has raised USD 3 million in Seed funding. Omnivore led the round with participation from Kettleborough VC. Through its proprietary distribution infrastructure, the startup provides digital insurance services to underserved groups, including rural communities and middle and low-income populations in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

Finhaat began operations in June 2022 with insurance as their first product vertical. The startup is building a B2B insurance distribution and servicing platform for institutions working with the underserved, including NBFCs, MFIs, BC networks, Nidhi companies, cooperatives, NGOs, and FPOs. With its tech-driven approach, Finhaat has created a suite of unique APIs custom-built for the target segments for instant policy issuance and seamless end-to-end claims process to democratize insurance and reach more customers. Furthermore, Finhaat’s SaaS-based digital platform provides partner institutions with ease of implementation and customer servicing.

Based out of Mumbai, Finhaat was founded in 2021 by Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) graduates and financial services veterans Sandeep Katiyar, Navneet Shrivastava and Vinod Singh. Sandeep began his career at ICICI Bank and later served as Chief Financial Officer at Arya Collateral. He also has an executive MBA from Harvard Business School. Navneet brings over two decades of experience with insurance giants, including Birla Sun Life, Future Generali and Aditya Birla Health. As for Vinod, he managed various banking verticals at HSBC, where he also established their NBFC arm before heading wealth lending at Avendus.

Vinod Singh, Co-founder of Finhaat, commented, “We are happy to have Omnivore’s support in our journey. The firm’s support validates our commitment to using technology to increase access and efficiency of essential financial services for rural India. Our operations already cover over 65 percent of pin codes in India. With this round, we hope to expand further by building robust technological models, enriching product experience, introducing innovative products, enhancing our partner base and hiring resources for new verticals. We are determined to transform the financial services space for the underserved.”

Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner at Omnivore, observed, “Financial inclusion remains dismally low in rural India – just 11.5% of households have net savings, and under 10% have life insurance. This vulnerability is most acute in low-income segments, especially for farmers confronting myriad risks. Yet, tailored products to mitigate uncertainties and boost financial stability and growth are few and far between. Finhaat is transforming this landscape, and we are excited to support its mission of improving financial access and resilience for the millions left behind by formal systems.”

The startup is building a B2B insurance

Agrotech, Australia, China, Finance, India, Japan, Start ups

India briefly overtook China in agrifoodtech investment, while Southeast Asia demonstrated significant potential with $1.7 billion in funding.

As the world’s largest region in both geography and population, with a vast network of smallholder farmers combined with dense urban settings and food sovereignty concerns, Asia-Pacific is a hotbed of opportunity for food and agriculture technology startups.

But in 2023, downstream food delivery and restaurant startups, once the darling of the region’s agrifoodtech ecosystem, fueling tens of billions of dollars of investment, are no longer so attractive to investors.

The new star of the ecosystem is upstream innovation, reveals a new report from leading agrifoodtech venture firm and research platform AgFunder, in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Omnivore and AgriFutures Australia.

While total funding to the farm-to-fork agrifoodtech ecosystem dropped 58 per cent year-over-year (YoY) to $6.5 billion in 2022 from the record-breaking $15.2 billion raised in 2021, investment in startups operating upstream increased 24 per cent YoY. This increase appears to be continuing in 2023, according to preliminary data on 2023 funding flows.

This is good news for the 450 million smallholder farmers producing about 80 per cent of the region’s food. For the first time in years, upstream funding, which provides technologies to farmers and primary food producers, overtook downstream investment. The former raised $3.2 billion in 2022 versus the latter’s $2.7 million, according to the report.

The Ag Biotechnology category was particularly buoyant in the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, bringing in $813 million in funding, nearly half the amount raised globally in this category in 2022. While a couple of very large deals contributed to these totals, there was also greater deal activity in this segment, which includes on-farm inputs for crop & animal agriculture,” confirming investors’ growing interest in this space.

Innovative Food – the category housing the alternative protein industry – bucked the global decline in funding to the segment, with investment actually increasing year-over-year to $527 million, albeit over fewer deals.

Similarly, Farm Management Software, Sensing & IoT ($334m), Farm Robotics ($252m) and Novel Farming Systems startups ($254m), which include indoor farming and aquaculture and insect farming, brought in more funding across fewer deals.

China, meanwhile, lost its lead to India as the country attracting the most funding in 2022, likely due to the loss of downstream mega-deals that propped up China’s agrifoodtech investment in 2021. India’s lead looks to be short lived, however; in H1 2023, China grabbed the top spot back, raising $861 million.

The report includes deep dive sections on investment to startups in Australia, China, India, Indonesia and Southeast Asia. And spotlights on startups Zetifi, Integriculture, Eratani and Tablepointer.

India briefly overtook China in agrifoodtech investment,

Company News, Finance, India, People

 Company welcomes new experts to spearhead agrifood advancements; Abhilash Sethi promoted to Investment Director.

Omnivore, India’s leading agritech venture capital firm, announced four strategic hires to lead key functions and strengthen the firm’s commitment to supporting innovations in agriculture and food systems.

Arindom Datta has joined Omnivore as a Senior Advisor after more than 16 years as the Executive Director, Rural & Development Banking/Advisory at Rabobank. Datta earlier served as the Director of CARE India, a non-profit empowering marginalized women and girls. He began his career at the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), where he worked for over ten years. With over three decades of experience, Datta’s wealth of industry insights will serve as an important asset in deploying Omnivore’s third fund.

Arindom Datta stated, “After many years of supporting Omnivore from the sidelines, I’m very excited to join the team. I look forward to deepening the fund’s investments in technology and data innovations for advancing sustainable agriculture and food systems.”

Omnivore has also hired Aaushi Sharma as a Senior Associate and Michelle Nazareth as an Associate.  Sharma was previously a part of the leadership programme at Bayer Crop Science, which she joined after completing her MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. She began her career at Honda R&D India (Power Products) followed by a stint at State Bank of India as an Agriculture Officer overseeing the farmer lending in a rural branch in Uttarakhand. Nazareth was previously a Consultant at Dalberg Advisors, which she joined after completing her postgraduate studies at The London School of Economics.

For the operations team, the firm has appointed Soumee Saha as the in-house Legal Manager.  Saha previously worked with AZB & Partners as an investment funds lawyer and earlier with Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Finally, Abhilash Sethi has been promoted to the role of Investment Director. He joined Omnivore as a Principal in 2018 and worked closely with several portfolio companies, scouted opportunities, oversaw multiple transactions, and maintained relationships with strategic ecosystem partners. Sethi also led Omnivore’s exits from Eruvaka and MITRA.

“In the ever-evolving landscape of agritech innovation, Omnivore has consistently led the way armed with profound sectoral insights. As we welcome our new team members, we are reinforcing our commitment to steering the agritech revolution in India, backed by unmatched agrifood expertise,” remarked Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Omnivore.

 Company welcomes new experts to spearhead agrifood

Agrotech, Company News, Finance, India, Start ups, Sustainability

The startup uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues as their raw material to produce advanced materials as alternatives to unsustainable incumbents.

Biomaterials startup altM announced that it has raised a USD 3.5 million Seed round led by Omnivore. Other investors include Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, Sanjiv Rangrass, Neha Mudaliar, Maninder Gulati from OYO, Mirik Gogri from Spectrum Impact, and Paula Mariwala from Aureolis Ventures.

altM is Omnivore’s first investment from its third fund, which recently had a first close at USD 150 million. This is also the firm’s fourth investment under its OmniX Bio initiative, which was setup in 2021 to back early-stage agrifood life science startups. 

altM aims to develop and manufacture scalable biomaterials to help large industries reduce their carbon footprints across their supply chains. The startup uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues as their raw material to produce advanced materials as alternatives to unsustainable incumbents. Given its sustainability potential and functional properties, lignocellulosic biomass offers a unique technological appeal to form a family of materials. 

altM, which is based in Bengaluru, was founded in 2022 by Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, who met while working at Tesla in the US. Before altM, Apoorv served in supply chain and engineering leadership roles at Prometheus Fuels, Tesla, and Maruti Suzuki. He is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley (M.Eng.) and Delhi College of Engineering (B.Tech.). Yugal earlier worked at Tesla in engineering leadership roles, managing several factory and product launches. He is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.Eng.) and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (B.E.). The team also includes Dr. Harshad Velankar with over 20 years of academic and industrial experience across India, the US, and South Africa. He previously led bioprocess research at HPCL, with prior stints at Praj Industries and Reliance Life Sciences. 

Apoorv Garg, CEO and Co-Founder at altM, said, “The scale-up of a technology from a laboratory bench to commercial production is not a trivial undertaking. Production scale-up is often the death valley for biotech startups. Our focus on go-to-market strategy, execution, and production scale-up will be the differentiator to most endeavors we see in the world of biomaterials today.”

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said, “With Apoorv and Yugal’s background in manufacturing excellence, altM’s entry into industrial alternative materials will hasten the global shift towards sustainability and circularity. Omnivore is very excited to be a part of their journey as we kick off our new fund.”

The startup uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues as

Company News, Finance, India, Trade

This is Omnivore’s third exit in just over one year. In August 2022, Omnivore exited Eruvaka to Netherlands-based Nutreco, and earlier this year, Omnivore exited MITRA to Mahindra.

Agritech venture capital firm Omnivore announced its exit from Barrix Agro Sciences. Omnivore has signed a definitive agreement to sell its stake to Sumitomo Chemical India Limited (SCIL), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical in Japan. This is Omnivore’s third exit in just over one year. In August 2022, Omnivore exited Eruvaka to Netherlands-based Nutreco, and earlier this year, Omnivore exited MITRA to Mahindra.

Founded in 2011 by Lokesh Makam, Bangalore-based Barrix was an early innovator of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and integrated Plant Nutrition Management (IPNM) products. Barrix’s cutting-edge R&D has supported launches of several eco-friendly crop protection and nutrition products, including pheromone dispersion technologies to monitor and trap agricultural pests.

Barrix was one of the earliest entrants in India’s then-nascent agritech startup ecosystem. Omnivore, which pioneered agritech investing in India, became Barrix’s first institutional investor in 2013 alongside IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE. For this exit, EY was the exclusive financial advisor to Barrix and its shareholders.

Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said, “Before Barrix, Indian farmers had limited access to effective, affordable, and eco-friendly crop protection products. Over the years, the startup has proven the efficacy of their innovations in minimizing crop damage and labor costs. We are very proud to have been an early believer in Barrix. Sumitomo’s stake in the company ensures that farmers across the globe will have access to these sustainable solutions.”

Lokesh Makam, Managing Director, Barrix Agro Sciences, shared “We are very pleased and excited to join forces with SCIL. Our journey to this point has been exciting, and I am thankful for Omnivore’s support through the early years.”

Chetan Shah, Managing Director of SCIL stated, “Together, with SCIL’s vast network and Barrix’s proven innovative products, we can serve the farmers through the complete value chain with traditional and additional complementary solutions to crop protection. The acquisition shall create greater synergies, deliver maximum value for our shareholders and a wider product portfolio for our customers.”

This is Omnivore's third exit in just

Company News, Finance, India, Start ups

Omnivore expects to make 25-30 new investments in Seed and Series A rounds of agritech startups, with initial cheque sizes ranging between $1 million and $5 million.

 Impact venture capital firm Omnivore is pleased to announce the first close of its third fund at $ 150 million. The Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund, which was launched in April 2022, will continue focusing on startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy.  First close investors include KfW, the Self-Reliant India (SRI) Fund, FMO, SIFEM, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Inclusive Agritech Facility, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), and Yara Growth Ventures.

With their third fund, Omnivore expects to make 25-30 new investments in Seed and Series A rounds of agritech startups and MSMEs, with initial cheque sizes ranging between $ 1 million and $ 5 million.  Key themes for new investments include agrifood life sciences, rural fintech, and climate-smart agriculture.

Over the past year, Omnivore has exited two agritech startups, delivering strong returns to its investors.  In July 2022, Omnivore sold its stake in aquaculture IoT startup Eruvaka to Nutreco, a global leader in animal nutrition and aquaculture, realizing the largest exit in Indian agritech to date.  Later, in March 2023, Omnivore sold its stake in precision sprayer manufacturer MITRA to farm machinery giant Mahindra.

According to Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, “The greatest risk and opportunity for Indian agriculture are the adverse effects of climate change. Our new fund will have a sharper focus on catalyzing climate action in agriculture by funding startups addressing climate mitigation and climate adaptation.”

Jinesh Shah,Managing Partner at Omnivore, noted, “We are grateful to our investors who share Omnivore’s vision of making India an agritech superpower which positively impacts the lives of smallholder farmers globally.”

Omnivore was founded in 2011 by Mark Kahn and Jinesh Shah to fund Indian startups building the future of agriculture and food systems.  Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, and over the past decade has backed over 40 startups which are making farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable, and climate-proof.  Omnivore raised $ 82 million for its second fund, which had a final close in April 2019. Some of Omnivore’s portfolio companies include DeHaat, Arya, Stellapps, Reshamandi, Ecozen, Aquaconnect, and Pixxel.

Omnivore expects to make 25-30 new investments

Company News, Finance, India, Machinery – Post-harvesting, Trade

 As part of this acquisition, Mahindra fully bought out Omnivore’s stake in the business. This marks the agritech fund’s second exit in a little over six months.

 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s Farm Equipment Sector (FES) today signed definitive documents to increase its shareholding in MITRA Agro Equipments Private Limited (M.I.T.R.A) from the existing 47.33 per cent to 100 per cent, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M). As part of this acquisition, Mahindra fully bought out Omnivore’s stake in the business. This marks the agritech fund’s second exit in a little over six months. In August 2022, Omnivore exited aquatech startup Eruvaka after selling its stakes to Netherlands-based Nutreco.

Founded in 2012 by Devneet Bajaj, M.I.T.R.A is the Indian market leader in high precision orchard sprayers and a trusted brand for farmers growing fruits like grapes, pomegranate and oranges. The company has more than tripled its revenue from FY18 to FY22 and now employs over 200 people and has successfully started exporting its products globally. Post-acquisition by Mahindra, M.I.T.R.A plans to accelerate the expansion of its product portfolio alongside its network in India and overseas markets.

M.I.T.R.A was an early entrant in the then-nascent Indian agritech startup ecosystem. Omnivore, a venture capital firm that pioneered agritech investing in India, was one of its first institutional investors. M.I.T.R.A understood farmer needs and aspirations and built machines to automate labor-intensive farm jobs and save resources.

Dev Bajaj, Founder of M.I.T.R.A, said, “After eleven years of building a passionate team, more than ten innovative products, and a radical rural sales strategy, the journey of exiting M.I.T.R.A to M&M is gratifying. I am thankful to the M.I.T.R.A team and Omnivore for staunchly backing the vision of improving Indian agriculture with innovation.” Dev is now the Chief Strategy Officer of Dream Sports and heads one of India’s largest CVC funds, DreamCapital.

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner, Omnivore, said, “Ten years ago, Dev traded the American dream for a future building the Indian startup ecosystem, starting with M.I.T.R.A. Through Mahindra’s expansive dealer network, M.I.T.R. A’s cutting-edge technology will now be accessible to horticulture farmers across India. As the first institutional investor in the startup, this is a very proud moment for Omnivore and for agritech in India.”

Hemant Sikka, President of the Farm Equipment Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said, “Mahindra aims to grow its farm machinery business by 10x in 5 years and is making rapid progress towards achieving this goal. The additional share purchase in M.I.T.R.A would aid Mahindra’s growth and expansion into the growing horticulture market.”

 As part of this acquisition, Mahindra fully

Agrotech, Animal Health, Company News, Finance, Start ups

Using this funding, eFeed will strengthen its R&D operations, expand its farmer network, and focus on talent acquisition.

Omnivore announced today that it has invested in eFeed, an animal nutrition and health company manufacturing innovative products for livestock. This is Omnivore’s third life sciences investment under its OmniX Bio initiative, which was originally launched in December 2021.

eFeed has developed nutritional supplements for livestock which can improve overall cattle health while also increasing milk yield. eFeed’s digital nutrition application also provides customized ration balancing, factoring in the location of the cattle and available raw materials for feeding. The application also connects veterinary doctors to cattle farmers for easy access to medical services. Using this funding, eFeed will strengthen its R&D operations, expand its farmer network, and focus on talent acquisition.

Based out of Pune, eFeed was founded in 2021 to disrupt the USD 14 billion Indian animal nutrition and health industry. The three founders, Kumar Ranjan, Ravi Chauhan and Ankit Patel, all grew up in rural India. Kumar is a two-time entrepreneur with successful exits to MyGate and Roadzen. Ravi founded RyCabz, an automobile servicing startup, while Ankit, an IIT Bombay graduate, previously worked for Udaan. Currently, eFeed has a network of three lakh farmers and has launched multiple products to improve lactation, solve infertility, and enhance the general health/immunity of cattle.

Kumar Ranjan, Co-Founder & CEO of eFeed, said, “Despite holding the global top spot in cattle population and dairy production until now, India lacks disruptive innovations in the animal nutrition and health (ANH) industry. We believe nutrition plays the most critical role in cattle health. By empowering farmers with localized and customized feed advisory supplemented by our premixes, eFeed is improving cattle health, milk output, and farmer incomes while lowering reliance on expensive compound feed and medicines.”

Mark Kahn, the Managing Partner of Omnivore, stated, “Omnivore is delighted to back eFeed under our OmniX Bio initiative, which seeks to blaze a path forward for agrifood life sciences in India. We are proud to support eFeed’s bold vision for revolutionizing animal nutrition and health in India.”

Using this funding, eFeed will strengthen its