Indian aquaculture startup Aquaconnect has raised INR 600 million (USD 7.9 million, EUR 7.1 million) in a venture debt funding round led by India-based venture debt firm Trifecta Capital.
The raised funds will be used to strengthen Aquaconnect’s operations across India by expanding its network of franchise stores, which the company said help fish- and shrimp-farmers access input products they need, The Economic Times reported. The start-up will also utilize the funds to expand the scale of operations and improve its market linkage solutions to help farmers find more buyers of their products.
“At Aquaconnect, our aim is to make the aquaculture value chain more efficient and transparent while increasing value realization through tech intervention,” Aquaconnect Founder and CEO Rajamanohar Somasundaram said. “The fresh round of capital will help us achieve this goal by paving the way for expansion of our partners network in India and help the aquaculture farmers reach more buyers by strengthening our post-harvest market linkage solutions.”
Aquaconnect, which raised USD 4 million (EUR 3.4 million) in a pre-Series A round in July 2021, connects thousands of local fish and shrimp farmers in several states to smart farm-management tools, financial services, and customers to support their operations. It also provides solutions to help farmers sell their products to customers in other countries.
Other seafood start-ups in India have also secured funding from various investors to support their expansion plans recently. Bangalore, India-based e-commerce food start-up Licious raised USD 150 million (EUR 134.6 million) in a Series F2 fundraising round in March this year to fuel its expansion. The round was led by Singapore-based Amansa Capital and Kotak PE, and Axis Growth Avenues AIF, and was joined by existing investors and several angel investors such as Nithin and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, BoAt’s Aman Gupta, and Haresh Chawla of True North (formerly the India Value Fund).
Seafood supply chain platform Captain Fresh announced in December last year it raised USD 40 million (EUR 35.9 million) in its Series B funding round to support its continued growth. The fundraising round was co-led by Tiger Global and Prosus Ventures and participated in by existing investors comprising Matrix Partners India, Accel India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund. Elluminate Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to Captain Fresh on the fundraising round.
Photo courtesy of Aquaconnect
