Agritech Startup Balwaan Krishi Pockets INR 40 Cr To Build Distribution Network, Expansion

Jaipur-based agritech startup Balwaan Krishi has bagged INR 40 Cr (around $4.8 Mn) as a part of its Series A funding exercise from JM Financial Private Equity, the private equity arm of JM Financial Ltd.

The company will deploy the fresh proceeds to build new products and also set up its distribution network across the country. Apart from this, it also looks to expand its footprint in the southern pockets.

Founded by Rohit Bajaj and Shubham Bajaj in 2016, Balwaan Krishi offers technologies that enable farmers to boost production, improves farmers’ lives. The startup claims that it alters rural communities by providing affordable and effective machinery to manage small and marginal farms.

“At Balwaan, enhancing farmers’ productivity and cutting their operational costs is at the core of our mission. The capital infusion and partnership with JM Financial Private Equity will accelerate our current and long term expansion plans” said Rohit Bajaj.

Balwaan claims to have sold over 60,000 units of equipment. The products are available on ecommerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart, and the startup fulfills more than 1,000 orders daily. 

The startup aims to help farmers reduce their operational costs via new farm machinery.

This comes at a time when the broader agritech space is seeing interest from investors with startups like Ninjacart, Dehaat, and Cropin emerging as prominent players in the sector. 

The Indian agritech startup ecosystem continues to make rapid strides on the back of growing demand for new age tech products and services. Bolstering agriculture seems to be the incorporation of AI and renewed push from the Centre as well as states for smart agricultural practices. 

As a result, the market is growing but steadily and, alongside, a new crop of agritech players are also emerging that are disrupting the space. And investors are also lining up in droves to back these new-age tech companies.

Last month, agritech startup Poshn raised INR 32.8 Cr (around $4Mn)  in a Pre-Series A funding round co led by Prime Venture Partners and Zephyr Peacock India.

In the same month agritech startup Cornext raised INR 18.3 Cr (around $2.2Mn) in a seed funding round from Omnivore.

As per Inc42, the Indian agritech space is projected to be a $25 Bn market opportunity by 2025.