Agritech startup Nutrifresh raises $5 mn to scale up chemical-free farm ops

Co-founded by two Agripreneurs, Nutrifresh aims to provide consistent pesticide-free hydroponic produce that is nutrient-rich for the Indian consumer

Nutrifresh, an agri-tech start-up focusing on residue-free, and chemical-free produce, has attracted $5 million as pre-series seed funding. The funding is led by Theodore Cleary (Archer Investments), Sandiip Bhammer  (managing partner - Green Frontier Capital),  Sky Kurtz (CEO and co-founder of Pure Harvest AE) and  Mathew Cyriac (Florintree Advisors and ex MD of Blackstone India). Other investors include  Dr Soumitra Dutta (Dean Elect - Saïd Business School, University of Oxford),  Shaishav Dharia (Regional CEO, Lodha Group) and  Karan Goshar (Samarthya Investment Advisors LLP).

The funding will be used to scale up farm operations, implement complete traceability and transparency of produce, and marketing and creation of an integrated Farm-tech platform. Co-founded by two Agripreneurs' Sanket Mehta and Ganesh Nikam, Nutrifreshs’ vision is to provide consistent pesticide-free hydroponic produce that is nutrient-rich for the Indian consumer all year round.

“Team Nutrifresh is extremely committed to bringing focused Hydroponic Farming which is robust, tech-enabled, IoT (Internet of Things) based and gives consistent production,” said Sanket Mehta, co-founder, Nutrifresh Farm Tech Farms Pvt Ltd. “The funding in Ag-tech space is the proof of concept encircling the fact that residue-free and quality veggies are most critical in urban lifestyle and Nutrifresh is focused on bringing quality food security.”

Nutrifresh has an existing facility under protected cultivation which uses high-quality seeds from Israel and US, where the air is supplied in controlled measures, water is RO purified and nutrients are water-soluble. The entire production is controlled right from procurement of seeds, germination, nursery, harvesting, packaging and finally delivery of the product to the end-user. The produce reaches the consumer within 24 hours of harvest. Boasting over 42 SKUs (stock-keeping units), Nutrifresh is supplying its products to over 100 plus B2B aggregators in the Indian market. These include partners like Nature’s Basket, Big Basket, Swiggy, Kissan Konnect and Zomato Hyperpure.

Through the implementation of centralised nutrient and pumping systems and a close looped irrigation methodology, Nutrifresh uses 90 per cent less water than a conventional farm. Over 80 per cent of their farm workforce is women and Nutrifresh aims to skill them with the most modern techniques and achieve complete self-sustenance.

“Agri tech and Food tech are both big focus areas for our Climate Mitigation-focused venture fund and we are constantly looking to explore and invest in innovative businesses run by dynamic entrepreneurs with compelling business models,” said Sandiip Bhammer, Managing Partner of Green Frontier Capital. “Nutrifresh is all of these and more.

Nutrifresh is directly selling to almost 15,000 households in the twin cities of Mumbai and Pune.

“With our strong experience in the Ag-Tech sector, we believe there is unmet demand in the healthy produce segment, and we are happy to guide Nutrifresh in its journey to become the largest precision farming player in India and bringing hydroponically grown produce to consumers across India,” said, Sky Kurtz, Pure Harvest, UAE.