Animal Nutrition Startup eFeed Bags Funding From Agritech VC Firm Omnivore

Venture capital firm Omnivore on Wednesday (January 11) said it has invested in animal nutrition and health startup eFeed which manufactures innovative products for livestock. However, it didn’t disclose the investment amount.

This was Omnivore’s third life sciences investment under its OmniX Bio initiative, launched in December 2021.

Based out of Pune, eFeed was founded in 2021 by Kumar Ranjan, Ravi Chauhan and Ankit Patel. It offers multiple products to improve lactation, solve infertility, and enhance the general health/ immunity of cattle. The startup claims to have a network of 3 Lakh farmers.

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 customised 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, a statement said.

eFeed will use the fresh funds to strengthen its R&D operations, expand farmer network, and focus on talent acquisition.

“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,” Kumar Ranjan, cofounder and CEO of eFeed, said.

“By empowering farmers with localised and customised 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,” he added.

Omnivore launched OmniX Bio to support Indian entrepreneurs working in the fields of agricultural biotechnology, novel farming systems, bioenergy and biomaterials, and innovative foods, including alternative protein.

Its first investment was in BioPrime, which develops crop inputs that enhance farm yields without unintended environmental consequences, in December 2021.

Later in August 2022, it participated in Loopworm’s $3.4 Mn seed round. The Bengaluru-based startup enables optimised insect farming for small farmers while producing value-added nutrients and ingredients for B2B customers.

In April 2022, Omnivore launched its third fund, with a target corpus of $130 Mn (INR 1,000 Cr).

As per Inc42’s agritech ecosystem report, the startups in the sector raised over $1.4 Bn through 189 funding deals between 2014 and December 2021. India’s agri-input industry’s value stood at $5 Bn in 2018, with domestic consumption accounting for $2.77 Bn, according to FICCI. The industry is set to grow at 8.1% annually and reach a size of $8.1 Bn by 2025.