Agritech Startup AgNext Raises Funding From Kalaari Capital

Chandigarh-based AgNext has raised a Pre-Series A round from venture capital fund Kalaari Capital as the agritech startup seeks to further expand its product portfolio.

With the latest funding, AgNext has raised a total of around $4 Mn over the last 12 months.

AgNext is an agricultural sensing solutions startup that collects spatial, temporal and spectral data across the agricultural and food value chain, helping growers and food processors to improve their productivity, quality, and profitability.

In April, Agnext had raised an undisclosed amount from Omnivore Partners in a deal that also saw participation from Singapore-based high-net-worth individual Samir Kumar as well as a few angel investors from Singapore and India. AgNext was founded in October 2016 by Taranjeet Singh Bhamra and Mrigank Sharad, both alumni of IIT Kharagpur.

“We at Kalaari believe that AgNext’s cost-effective and unique technology can offer tremendous savings to agribusinesses and affiliated growers both at pre and post-harvest stages by improving quality and traceability across the agri value chain. We are proud to partner with the AgNext team, who are highly passionate about putting India on the global map for agri data analytics,” said Vani Kola, MD of Kalaari Capital.

Last week, Kalaari led a $8.87 Mn (INR 62.78 Cr) Series B funding round in Bengaluru-based bike rental startup Vogo Automotive Pvt Ltd.

“We are happy to join hands with Vani and have a renowned generalist VC fund like Kalaari as an investor. We intend to scale our team and solutions deployment at a rapid pace over the coming year, ” said Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, CEO of AgNext.

AgNext has developed an integrated digital platform through which growers and downstream players (food processors, aggregators, commodity traders) can improve their quality, build traceability, and link payments seamlessly. AgNext is currently focused on horticultural, floricultural, and plantation crops, as well as select row crops, with an initial customer base across India and strong inbound interest from other geographies.

Another agritech startup WayCool Foods recently raised $16.9 Mn (INR 120 Cr) as a combination of equity and debt from LGT Impact, prominent angels, and institutional lenders, including Northern Arc Capital and Caspian.