Agritech platform Ergos has raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Abler Nordic, a Norway based financial inclusion fund focused on African and Asian markets. The company’s existing investors, Aavishkaar Capital, Chiratae Ventures and Trifecta Venture also poured in some capital.
Ergos has raised the funds in a mix of equity and debt funding, the company said in a press release.
Ergos works on a farm-gate based Grainbank model that enables farmers to convert their grains into tradable assets, avail credit against their stored produce via NBFCs and banks, and get better prices for their produce. It also provides them with end-to-end post-harvest supply chain solutions by leveraging technology.
As per the company, it currently supports over 1,60,000 farmers on its platform and has a physical network of farm-gate based warehouses branded as Grainbank in over 200 locations across the states of Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Over the past years, the company has helped farmers increase their income by 30-35% in a year.
While the company did not disclose its valuation from the Series B round, it was last valued at around Rs 445 crore ($60 million approximately) during the Series A funding of Rs 55 crore in February 2021.
As per the data intelligence platform TheKredible, Ergos has raised around Rs 162 crore ($22 million approx.) to date (excluding Series B round). The company’s existing investors include British International Investment, Chiratae Ventures, Aavishkaar Capital and more.
The company is yet to file its financial statements for FY23. During FY22, Ergos revenue from operations surged 3.3X to Rs 134.6 crore from Rs 40.81 crore in FY21. As per TheKredible, the company’s losses also spiked on a similar pace to Rs 23 crore in FY22 from Rs 5.8 crore in FY21.
Agritech space has seen a sharp decline in terms of VC investment. Data compiled by Entrackr shows that 20 startups have managed to raise around $53 million in funding in 2023 to date. In 2022 and 2021, the investment in agritech startups stood at $773 million and $636 million respectively.
