Bijak in discussion to raise $35 million in a funding round led by Bertelsmann India

An agricultural trading platform, Bijak is set to raise $35 million in a funding round led by Bertelsmann India, bringing the gross valuation to $200-$300 million. The start-up mentions Omidyar Network, Omnivore Partners and Better Capital as other investors, who are part of Sequoia’s accelerator programme Surge’s second cohort of 2019.

Bijak, an India based agricultural commodity trading platform backed by Sequoia Capital’s surge fund, is in discussion to raise capital worth $35 million. Reportedly, the funding round will be headed by Bertelsmann India. On completion of the proposed funding round, Bijak’s total valuation will come down to $200-$300 million. The recent funding proposal is following a $12 million series A funding round led by Russian venture capital firm RTP Global, held in April 2020.

Amassing a stronghold in the agriculture marketplace along with start-up’s presence in over 27 states country-wide, a number of investors are in good terms with Bikaj. Omidyar Network, Omnivore Partners and Better Capital are among a few investors, who are part of Sequoia’s accelerator programme Surge’s second cohort of 2019.

Founded in 2019 by Nukul Upadhye, Mahesh Jakhotia, Jitender Bedwal, Daya Rai and Nikhil Tripathi, Bijak made significant advancements and witnessed an extraordinary revenue and business surge during the coronavirus led pandemic. In addition to that, the Gross merchandise value (GMV) of the B2B portal for agricultural products amplified tremendously.  Notably, the GMV scaled up from INR 50 lakh in October 2019 to INR 1,200 Crore on yearly basis.

It is pertinent to point out that the recent funding comes at a pristine time as the investment flow in the agricultural technology industry is harnessing optimal interests among investors. With soaring investor interests and National Stock Exchange (NSE) at -0.65%, approximately $172 million have been invested and flowed by around 21 deals this year. This is followed by accumulation of around $125 million capital, under venture debt, equity and conventional debt by 20 agriculture based start-ups the previous year.