Kamatan, an agricultural-technology startup that focuses on the agricultural logistics and supply chain segment, has raised Rs 30 crore ($4.18 million at current exchange rate) in funding from Chennai-based Samunnati Agro Solutions, according to reports.
The Kamatan Farm Tech Pvt. Ltd-operated startup raised the money through a mix of equity and debt financing, The Economic Times reported. Samunnati is a wholly-owned subsidiary of non-banking financial company Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd.
Kamatan, which has offices in Delhi and Bengaluru, will use the capital it has raised to expand its linkages with farmer producer organisations (FPOs), according to the report. The startup also plans to enter areas such as input supplies for produce, financial linkages and technology solutions for production.
VCCircle has reached out to Kamatan on the fundraise and will update this report accordingly.
Kamatan was founded after agri-tech startups Sabziwala and LivLush, which are both backed by impact venture capital fund Elevar Equity, merged their businesses in March last year. At the time, Kamatan said it would focus on empowering farmers with meaningful price data. The combined entity is headed by Sabziwala founder Pravesh Sharma, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.
The company says it has worked with over 70 FPOs, and claims that it has supported over 30,000 farmers across 20 cities to procure, source, store, conduct quality control and provide logistics solutions. Some of its clients include agricultural enterprises, food processors, hotels, restaurants and café chains.
Deals in the agri-tech space
Several agri-tech startups have raised funds in recent years, as entrepreneurs and investors look for solutions to solve myriad problems in India’s agriculture sector.
Earlier this month, business-to-business agri-marketing platform Ninjacart raised Rs 30 crore ($4.17 million) from venture debt firm Trifecta Capital. Also, this month, VCCircle reported that social venture capital fund Insitor Impact Asia Fund and impact investor Omnivore are all set to invest in an agritech startup that operates a platform for buying and selling some non-perishable commodities.
Agricxlab, Eruvaka, CropIn, Crofarm, LeanAgri and Ecozen Solutions are among the agritech startups that have also raised funding over the past year.
India’s growing agricultural-technology segment is likely to record more mid-stage funding transactions and strategic deals in coming years, as investors look to back entrepreneurs trying to solve pressing problems in the critical farm sector, according to industry executives.