 "Agritech company Vegrow raises $46 mn in funding round led by GIC")
Vegrow, a business-to-business (B2B) start-up that uses technology to sell fruits, on Wednesday raised $46 million in a funding round led by GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.
Existing investors Prosus Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed participated in the Series C round. Vegrow said it will use the money to expand in India and strengthen its global network. The deal marks GIC’s first agriculture technology and B2B investment in India.
“Vegrow is the fastest agritech company to build a national presence, having done this within three years of its inception. Typically, it takes double the time to achieve this scale of operations,” said Praneeth Kumar, co-founder of the company.
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Vegow, which was founded in 2020 by Kumar, Mrudhukar Batchu, Kiran Naik and Shobhit Jain, said over the past year it has increased revenue fivefold and achieved operational profitability.
“At Vegrow, we distinguish ourselves from conventional operations, by creating an organizational ethos cantered on agility and experimentation. Through the extensive utilization of data and technology, we provide valuable insights and optimize supply chain challenges, such as reducing perishable inventory wastage to only one-fourth of industry average, and consistently achieving industry-leading profit margins," said Batchu.
Vegrow said its competitive advantage is “the depth of its multi-channel demand stack and its use of technology for demand-supply matchmaking.” The company claimed it increases farmers’ income by accurately grading produce and matching it with demand.
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"Vegrow is committed to making a positive impact for both farmers and the planet. Our ambition is to establish ourselves as the undisputed leader in every fruit category, ensuring transparency and higher income for farmers, while also reducing carbon consumption through supply chain optimization,” said Vegrow co-founder, Shobhit Jain.
Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Vegrow for the funding round.