Deeptech Startup Ecozen Raises $25 Mn To Scale Farm Storage Solutions

Update | January 24, 06:30 PM

Ecozen on Tuesday (January 24) said it has raised $25 Mn in a mix of equity and debt. The Series C equity round was led by Nuveen and Coromandel International’s venture capital arm Dare Ventures, with participation from Export-Import Bank of India and existing investors including Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds.

The debt portion saw participation from Maanaveeya Development and Finance, Oxyzo, Northern Arc group, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. 

In a statement, the startup said that its early investors Omnivore and IFA achieved partial exits in the round. 

The funding will enable Ecozen to scale its operations and shore up its ‘export-related activities’. The capital will also be deployed to expand production capabilities and ramp up product range.

“We are thrilled to successfully close this round and are excited to bring Nuveen, India Exim Bank, as well as other new investors, on board… As we expand beyond India and agriculture, we will continue to focus on profitable growth and sustainable technology solutions. Ecozen will aggressively expand production capacity and product range,” said Ecozen cofounder and CEO Devendra Gupta.

Original Story | December 28, 1:02 PM

Agritech startup Ecozen has raised $10 Mn (INR 82.4 Cr) from Nuveen Global Fund, as second tranche of its INR 200 Cr Series C funding round. 

According to regulatory filings, Ecozen allotted 1,06,657 Series C2 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at an issuance price of INR 7725.67 apiece. 

The development comes seven months after Ecozen received the first tranche of INR 54 Cr as debt and equity funding in its Series C fundraising round. 

The round was led by Dare Ventures. Existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds participated in the equity funding whilst Northern Arc, UC Inclusive Credit, Maanaveeya, and Samunnati took part in debt funding.

Set up in 2010 by IIT Kharagpur graduates Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pandey, the agritech startup offers irrigation and cold storage facilities to agricultural farmers, in turn, helping grow their yields and better store farm produce. 

Further, the startup also uses data analytics and internet of things (IoT) to assess crop health and provide crop insights. 

The startup claims to have delivered services to more than 1 Lakh farmers and also operates 450 cold storage units across the country. It further asserted that it recorded positive EBITDA in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) and also surpassed INR 100 Cr revenue mark during the year. 

In 2019, it bagged $6 Mn funding from IFA and prior to that, it raised $8.7 Mn funding. 

Some of the startups operating in the agriculture sector are Stride Ventures-backed WayCool and AgNext, among others.

According to an Inc42 report, the country’s agritech startups have cumulatively bagged around $2 Bn during January 2014–June 2022. The industry is estimated to surpass the $24 Bn mark by the forecasted period.

Further, in October, the Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar shared plans of setting up an INR 500 Cr accelerator program for agritech startups.

Besides, a slew of fundraising activities were also recorded in the sector this year. This includes Grow Indigo bagging $6 Mn+ from Indigo AG, Mahyco and HNIs, Vegrow raising $25 Mn funding from Prosus Ventures, and Intello Labs bagging $2.82 Mn from Saama Capital and others. 

The development was first reported by Entrackr