Omnivore announces first close of third fund at $150 Mn

Impact venture capital firm Omnivore has announced the first close of its third fund at $150 million. First close investors include KfW, the Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund, FMO, SIFEM, the International Finance Corporation with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Inclusive Agritech facility, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, the Dutch Good Growth Fund, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, and Yara Growth Ventures.

Omnivore raised $82 million for its second fund, which had a final close in April 2019. Some of Omnivore’s portfolio companies include DeHaat, Arya, Stellapps, Reshamandi, Ecozen, Aquaconnect, and Pixxel.

With their third fund, Omnivore expects to make 25-30 new investments in seed and Series A rounds in agritech startups and MSMEs with initial cheque sizes ranging between $1 million and $5 million. Key themes for new investments include agrifood life sciences, rural fintech, and climate-smart agriculture.

Co-founded in 2011 by Mark Kahn and Jinesh Shah, Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, and claims to have backed over 40 startups over the past decade which are making farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable and climate-proof.

According to Omnivore, it has exited two agritech startups, delivering strong returns to its investors. In July 2022, Omnivore sold its stake in aquaculture IoT startup Eruvaka to Nutreco, a global leader in animal nutrition and aquaculture. Later, in March 2023, the fund sold its stake in precision sprayer manufacturer MITRA to farm machinery giant Mahindra.