Business-to-business agricultural-commerce platform SuperZop has raised $4 million ( Rs 29.6 crore) in Series A funding from Belgium-based Incofin Investment Management’s India Progress Fund.
“This investment from Incofin will help us scale the business amongst existing and new geographies that include Tier-I cities, invest in technology, and further expand product offering,” said Raghuveer Allada, co-founder of SuperZop.
Veda advised SuperZop on this deal. Founded by Allada, Prithwi Singh, and Darshan Krishnamurthy, SuperZop has developed the staples agri-commerce platform for B2B customers.
Ahmedabad-based SuperZop uses its platform to help small kirana stores acquire staples such as rice, wheat, and pulses directly from farmers, farmer producer organisations, and mills.
The company enables 20,000 plus retailers in Mumbai and Pune to directly source staples from 13 states across India.
India Progress Fund recently made its debut investment by betting on Jaipur-based Namdev Finvest Pvt Ltd.
India Progress Fund had hit the first close at Rs 450 crore earlier in July. The fund seeks to invest in the agri-food value chain and financial services in rural India.
Incofin’s Indian footprint spans a decade with growth capital investments through local teams in Chennai and New Delhi. Some prior equity investments of Incofin in India are in Fusion Microfinance, SAVE Solutions, Sohan Lal Commodity Management, Annapurna Finance, and Light Microfinance.
A slew of tech startups focused on agriculture have attracted funding from investors in the past few months.
In July, agritech startup Crofarm Agriproducts raised $10.2 million as part of its Series A round of financing for its community group buying platform Otipy.
In the same month, Vegrow raised $13 million (Rs 97 crore) as part of its Series A funding round from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Elevation Capital.
Egreens, a Delhi-based investment firm, launched a Rs 15 crore fund to back early-stage agritech startups.
In May, agri financing startup Jai Kisan pulled in $30 million (Rs 217 crore) in debt and equity for its Series A round of funding led by Mirae Asset.
Earlier this year, DeHaat, which is run by Green Agrevolution Pvt Ltd, raised $30 million (around Rs 220 crore) in a Series C funding round led by Prosus Ventures.