Agriculture bioscience and technology startup Absolute has raised $100 million across recent funding rounds from Sequoia Capital India, Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global. While the company didn’t divulge the detail of the new round, a blog post by Sequoia’s Principal revealed the company raised fresh funds in Series B round.
The seven-year-old company had raised around $10 million in Series A in 2021. Its maiden institutional round was exclusively reported by Entrackr in June last year.
The company had also raised $2 million from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge Ventures and two individuals: Nadir Godrej and Sanjiv Rangrass in March 2021.
According to Absolute, it is valued at $500 million following the current round, as mentioned in an ET report. This is a 10X jump in the company’s valuation which was valued in the range of $40-50 million during Series A, as per Fintrackr’s estimates then.
The fresh capital will be used to strengthen the company’s technology, hire and scale in newer markets and segments, said the company in a release.
Absolute is a plant bioscience company and leverages phytology, microbiology, omics, molecular biology, epigenetics and AI to control the whole cycle of agri produce on its farm right from seed to harvest. It claims to use plant biology and hydrology to maintain quality. Unlike other supply chain and agritech companies, its product reaches consumers, retail stores and restaurants on the day of harvesting.
Absolute currently serves 12 Indian states and has spread over 100,000 acres. The company currently exports fruits and vegetables to more than 10 countries across the world. UrbanKisaan directly competes with Absolute whereas Iron Ox, Plenty and Village Farms are global startups in this space.
For the year ending on March 31, 2021, Absolute recorded a jump of 11X in its operating revenues to Rs 28.42 crore from Rs 2.43 crore in FY20, according to the company’s regulatory filings with MCA. During the period, the firm posted a marginal increase in its losses to Rs 3.04 crore as compared to Rs 3.03 crore in the preceding fiscal year (FY20).
Update: The headline and the story have been updated to reflect the name of the company as Absolute, not Absolute Foods.
