Agri-tech startup Ecozen raises USD 6mn in Series A funding

Agritech startup Ecozen on Thursday said it has raised USD 6 million (around Rs 42 crore) from investors to fund its expansion plan.

Based in Pune, Ecozen was founded by three IIT Kharagpur alumni, Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pandey. It develops technology-enabled products to strengthen farm-to-fork value chain of perishables.

Ecozen said in a statement it has completed its USD 6 million Series A fund raise, after receiving investment from Sathguru Catalyser's Innovation in Food & Agriculture Fund (IFA Fund). This funding is on top of the investment received in July 2019 from Caspian and the Hivos-Triodos Fund".

Omnivore, which originally invested in Ecozen in 2015, also participated in this round.

The company had raised USD 3 million in seed funding.

Ecozen's irrigation and cold chain products (Ecotron and Ecofrost) help farmers who grow perishables to increase their yields, store their produce longer, and realise higher prices. The company said that about 25,000 farmers in India use its products.

A Krishna Kumar, ex-MD of State Bank of India, will be joining Ecozen's board as the company embarks on its next phase of growth, the statement said.

Ecozen Co-Founder & CEO Devendra Gupta said: "The funding raised will enable us to expand our product range, production capacity, and enter new geographies".

Vijayaraghavan Kannan, Senior Partner at IFA Fund said: "Ecozen has focused on using technology as a differentiator and has pioneered innovative products addressing market imperfections and catering to underserved segments of agriculture & food value chain".

Ravi Narasimham, Investment Director at Caspian, said, "...we believe this round of funding will help Ecozen realize its potential by furthering its business strategy across new geographies by launching its innovative product range".