Indian startup Vegrow, which runs a business-to-business marketplace for fruits, on Tuesday said it has raised $46 million in a Series C funding round led by GIC, marking the Singapore sovereign wealth fund’s entry into the agritech and B2B market in India.
The round also saw participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed India Partners.
Started in 2020 by Praneeth Kumar, Mrudhukar Batchu, Kiran Naik, and Shobhit Jain, Vegrow said it uses a data-tech stack to disrupt India’s $43-billion fragmented fruit market and maximise farmer incomes by matching produce with suitable demand channels.
Over the past year, Vegrow claims to have experienced a fivefold increase in revenue and achieved operational profitability.
“Through the extensive utilisation of data and technology, we provide valuable insights and optimise supply-chain challenges, such as reducing perishable inventory wastage to only one-fourth of the industry average, and consistently achieving industry-leading profit margins” Batchu said.
Its latest funding comes more than a year after it tapped Prosus Ventures for a $25-million Series B round. which also saw the participation of Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, Lightspeed India, and Ankur Capital besides prominent angel investor Sanjiv Rangrass.
Buoyed by the future growth outlook, Prosus Ventures has increased its ownership in the company, Vegrow said.