Aquaconnect raises $4M pre-Series A funding from Rebright Partners, others

Chennai-based aquaculture startup Aquaconnect today announced it has raised $4 million (about Rs 29 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Japan-based Rebright Partners, Flourish Ventures, AgFunder, 6G Capital, and existing investors Omnivore and HATCH.

Aquaconnect will use the raised funding to scale farm advisory, financial services, and marketplace for seafood exports, the statement said. Prior to this, Aquaconnect had raised Rs 7.7 crore in a seed round in September 2019, co-led by HATCH and Omnivore.

Founded in 2017 by IIT Kanpur alumnus Rajamanohar, Aquaconnect is a full-stack platform that offers data-driven farm advisory solutions and marketplace solutions to Shrimp and Fish farmers. The platform helps farmers maximize their income by connecting them with smart farm management tools, financial services, and customers.

It also offers a mobile app in which its predictive SaaS tools for pond management improves productivity and help farmers to avoid disease risks. This farm data intelligence is then leveraged by Aquaconnect’s omnichannel marketplace, allowing farmers to transact directly with farm input manufacturers, banks, insurance companies, and certification bodies.

In the final stage, Aquaconnect’s post-harvest market linkage solution helps shrimp and fish farmers sell their traceable and certified produce to buyers across the globe.

Currently, The four-year-old aquaculture startup works with more than 35,000 farmers across the country and aiming to add more. According to the statement, The startup is planning to launch its Series A funding round in six to nine months.

Commenting on the investment, Brij Singh, general partner of Rebright Partners, said:

“We are backing Aquaconnect to help enable digital transformation in India’s aquaculture industry by supporting all stakeholders to increase exports of high-quality seafood with traceability to key markets like Japan.”

Rajamanohar is also a founder of Hexolabs, a platform that offers end-to-end Mobile applications development services to businesses and enterprises.

According to the MarketsandMarkets report, The aquaculture market is projected to grow from US$30.1 billion in 2018 to US$42.6 billion by 2023, recording a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period. 

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