Vegrow offers a B2B tech platform for fruits and connects wholesalers and traders with farmers. The company claims to be currently present in 100 cities and said that it has over 20,000 farmers on its platform.
Matrix Partners-backed business-to-business (B2B) agritech company Vegrow has raised $25 million as part of its Series B funding round led by Prosus Ventures, the company said in a statement on July 11. Existing investors Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, Lightspeed India, Ankur Capital and angel investor Sanjiv Rangrass also participated in the funding round, the company said.
Vegrow will use the funds for installing more demand centers and will expand into more cities. The company will also invest in products and hire across engineering and other support function domains, the company’s co-founder, Shobhit Jain, told Moneycontrol in virtual interaction. Jain also said that the company raised the funds at a post-money valuation of $170-$180 million.
Founded in 2020, Vegrow offers a B2B tech platform for fruits and connects wholesalers and traders with farmers. The company claims to be currently present in 100 cities and said that it has over 20,000 farmers on its platform.
“At Vegrow, we are focused on value creation for both farmers and customers. On the farmer’s side, we ensure a better realization through right matchmaking, fair and transparent business practices, and value chain innovations.”Praneeth Kumar, co-founder Vegrow.
Vegrow said that it digitally connects farmers across 400 production pockets in India and helps them align with market expectations and get better yield for their produce. Vegrow claims to process more than 200 tons of fruits daily.
Jain told media that Vegrow has grown 15 times in the last 12 months and has a gross margin of about 20%. Vegrow said it has built capabilities to harness farmer chatter, estimate farmland produce and measure demand across Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. Jain said Vegrow is betting on the fruit market in India, which the company expects to be valued at $60 billion, with every kind of fruit offers a multi-billion dollar opportunity. Vegrow claimed that the company is a leader in ‘pomegranate’ and amongst the top 5 in several other fruit categories.
“We have been tracking the Logitech space closely through our existing investments in fresh produce and animal protein segments,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Head of Investments, India at Prosus Ventures. Proses has invested in other agritech companies like Captain Fresh DeHaat and Captain Fresh.
“The fruits industries being historically unorganised, fragmented and inefficient, is poised for similar tech-led disruption. Vegrow has catapulted to pole position by serving pan-India demand through its focus on scale and technology,” Sharma added.
