Hyderabad-based impact investment firm Caspian has invested in Ecozen Solutions Private Limited, which provides technology-enabled products to strengthen the farm to fork value chain of perishables. This undisclosed investment comes from Caspian’s Fourth SME Impact Fund and “Hivos-Triodos Fund”, managed by globally active impact investor Triodos Investment Management from Netherlands. Existing Investor Omnivore partners also participated in this round.
Founded in 2009 by Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal, and Vivek Pandey, Ecozen envisions to strengthen the perishable supply chain using tech-enabled products and solutions.
The Pune-based agritech and the clean energy-focused company has grown at a CAGR of 130% since FY15 and had previously raised $2.5 million in a combination of debt and equity from Caspian and Omnivore Partners.
“We are really excited to take the relationship with Caspian and Triodos to the next level. We have had very good experience with Caspian on the debt support and are looking forward to working with them as equity partners. The funds raised will enable us to scale our irrigation and cold chain business and help us set-up the market linkage platform. We are thankful to Omnivore for their continued participation and display of faith in the company." said Devendra Gupta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Ecozen.
At present Ecozen products are present in 20,000 farms. The company will utilize this investment to develop a new cold chain enabled product for the perishable value chain and develop a tech-enabled platform for sourcing pre-cooled perishables directly from the farmers, scale up the irrigation business and diversify into new turfs. They are also in the process of closing a larger Series B funding.
“We see that the Company’s strategy has a perfect blend of promoting sustainable agriculture & storage, by using solar energy-based water pumping systems and cold storage facilities. These products are affordable & reliable and meet the key requirements of the Farming community,” Ravi Narasimham, Investment Director - Caspian, said in a statement.
By scaling up its, “Lease-a-Cold-Room” model, Ecozen is looking at providing access to a cold chain for small and medium-sized farmers growing high-value perishable commodities and focusing on doubling the Ecotron business.
“As a company that enables better livelihoods for farmers using technology and innovation, one that offers renewable-based energy products that cater to agri-focused markets, Ecozen is a natural partner for us. We look forward to helping drive their mission and vision forward and together creates a positive impact on the value chain.” said Karel Nierop, Fund Manager of Hivos-Triodos Fund.