Agritech startup Vegrow raises $13 million Lightspeed, Elevation

• Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, Better Capital and Titan Capital also participated in the round.
• Vegrow provides a technology platform to farmers, which can be used to get high quality farm inputs and best farming practices.
• The B2B startup is looking to expand to 100 cities, invest in technology and launch new products.

Business-to-business (B2B) agritech startup for sourcing fruits and vegetables, Vegrow, has raised $13 million in a Series A round co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Elevation Capital.

Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, Better Capital and Titan Capital also participated in the round. The company had raised $2.5 million in a seed round in June 2020.

Vegrow was founded in April 2020 by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumni Praneeth Kumar, Shobhit Jain, Mrudhukar Batchu and Kiran Naik, who have varying experience in the agri sector. Kumar and Jain started their career at fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant ITC’s agribusiness division, whereas Batchu and Naik were directly involved in farming.

The company works with small-hold farmers on a profit sharing model and offers assistance across various stages of the farming cycle using technology. Vegrow provides a technology platform to farmers, which can be used to get high quality farm inputs and best farming practices.

The platform also enables farmers to sell their harvest to the right buyers for the right price. The B2B startup claims to help farmers in getting higher returns, reducing supply-chain wastage and improving procurement for wholesalers. The company’s founders have emphasised that the new funding will help Vegrow to expand to 100 new cities, invest in technology and launch new products.

The company claims to be one of the largest companies for pomegranates in the country in less than a year.

Meanwhile, Lightspeed’s partner Vaibhav Agrawal said that companies building a tech-enabled marketplace between farmers and buyers could help eliminate inefficiencies and would have large market opportunities eventually.

“Additionally, many marketplaces have scaled up on negative unit margins in this category, so we were really impressed by the growth and positive unit margin Vegrow has demonstrated using its technology-oriented approach to standardise quality, minimise inventory and retain farmers,” Agrawal added.

Apart from Vegrow, other companies in India’s agritech space include Ninjakart, AgNext, Samunnati, Dehaat, Farmart, and WayCool.

SEE ALSO
Swiggy gets a $1.25 billion cheque from Softbank for the same reason Zomato went for an IPO

GlobalBees, a Thrasio-style startup launched by FirstCry and Edelweiss execs, raises $150 million in few months of launch

This toolkit will tell you if your phone is infected by the Pegasus spyware