Agritech Startup Eeki Nets $7 Mn

Agritech startup Eeki has raised $7 Mn (around INR 60 Cr) in its Series A2 funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures.

The round also saw participation from a clutch of undisclosed investors.

The Kota-based startup plans to deploy the freshly raised capital in expanding its farming footprint, research & development and accelerate tech stack. 

It further aims to expand the usage of its patented climate-controlled aeroponic chambers, which are used to grow fruits and vegetables in a sustainable and efficient manner.

Eeki’s cofounder and chief executive officer Abhay Singh said, “ The introduction of aeroponics in our Gen 3 chambers represents a paradigm shift in precision agriculture, allowing us to grow clean, nutritious vegetables consistently, independent of seasons and soil.”

Founded in 2018 by Singh and Amit Kumar, Eeki leverages IoT-powered growing chambers to grow  high-quality, nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits. The startup collaborates with land owners and sets up their state-of-the-art growing chambers.

The startup has around 5 farms across the country including Lakheri Farm, Nanta Farm, Talera Farm, Keshoraipatan Farm and Namana Farm.

The startup has an IoT system to gather plants’ and farms’ data to facilitate data-backed decision making. It also has an all-in-one app which helps in managing the farm and claims to be increasing productivity.

Besides, there are several other devices in the growing chamber including a weather monitoring system, Leaf Temperature sensor, Lux sensor for monitoring sunlight intensity, 5- Probe temperature sensor and THSensor to measure temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide.

In 2022, the company raised a $6.5 Mn funding round led by General Catalyst (GC) with participation from Avaana Capital and Better Capital.

India’s Agritech Bet

India has always been known as the land of agriculture, with the sector contributing around 18-19% to India’s GDP, as per a government report published in 2023.

With this weightage, the agriculture sector is of extreme importance. This has pushed several tech startups and investors to cash in on India’s evergreen agriculture sector.

Notable startups including AgroStar, Arya.ag, DeHaat, FarMart, Fasal, Fyllo and many others, are disrupting the agritech space by introducing sustainable farming methods, devices and monetizing India’s farming potential.

Recently, several investors have also bet on the agritech space in India.

For instance, agritech startup Grow Indigo recently bagged $10 Mn from British International Investment (BII).

Similarly, soonicon agritech startup DeHaat recently raised INR 200 Cr in venture debt from Trifecta Capital.

However, India has not seen the entry of any agritech startup in the unicorn segment yet.