EGreens, an investment firm headquartered in Delhi focuses specifically on Agri-tech start-ups. They have launched a seed fund valued at $2.1 M (INR 15 Cr) for early-stage investments into agri-tech start-ups.
Eligibility Criteria for Start-ups
- Early stage Agri-tech start-ups in India are eligible beneficiaries for funding.
- Start-ups that operate on disruptive business models spread across the end-to-end value chain of food production, storage and transportations can be at the receiving end of the funding.
- Start-ups who are providers of market linkages are eligible.
- Start-ups who leverage technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) in farming practices are eligible.
- Start-ups who implement IoT (Internet of Things) across the supply chain also come within the scope of benefits.
The Objective
The objective behind EGreens is to identify and invest in start-ups that are offering last-mile delivery solutions in the agriculture sector. EGreens is interested in utilising valuable opportunities to fund Agri-tech start-ups that will address the fragmented agricultural supply chain in India.
With the inception of this new fund, EGreens wants to make a move into food distribution and retail from the FMCG sector. EGreens is also a ‘people first retail company’ alongside its investment firm and has amassed decades worth of experience in the FMCG sector.
Start-up funding success
EGreens has made its maiden investment of INR 15 Cr ($2.1 M) in its in-house brand VegEase. VegEase is a food retail brand which delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to customers’ homes through its ‘cart-at-home’ model.
After being bootstrapped by its parent company, VegEase acquired a user base of over 5000 customers within a span of 3 months. It has also reported a volume of 200 orders per month. They have also established two warehouses in two cities Delhi and Gurugram, each spanning 9000 sq. ft. in total area. They have also achieved a turnover of INR 7 M and reported a return rate of 0.25% in their sales which is tremendous given the average industry return rate in this segment is 2-3%.
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The objective behind EGreens is to identify and invest in start-ups that are offering last-mile delivery solutions in the agriculture sector.
What’s in it for me?
EGreens is prioritising its future investments for Agri-tech firms that can create forward and backward integration with its own venture ‘VegEase’. EGreens will surely fund Agri-tech start-ups in India which will help both EGreens and VegEase diversify their market footprints from B2C to B2B and B2B2C.
There are several Agri-tech focused investors in India alongside EGreens like Omnivore, Nabvebtures, India Quotient, Accion Venture Labs, Aavishkaar, WEH Ventures and Ankur Capital to name a few with similar investment philosophies. WEH Ventures, a Venture Capital firm based in Mumbai has already launched its second seed fund of INR 100 Cr after the successful launch of its first seed fund corpus of INR 40 Cr for Agri-tech start-ups in India.
EGreens wants to invest in companies that are focused on consumer insights since these are the firms that will drive assured growth.
