Clean-tech startup Wastelink raises $3 Mn led by Avaana Capital

Business-to-business (B2B) food upcycling startup Wastelink has raised Rs 27 crore (around $3 million) in a Series A funding round led by early-stage investment firm Avaana Capital.

The Delhi-based company had earlier raised $2.3 million from Indigram Labs and others. The fresh funds will be used to enhance its tech stack and expand into new categories, Wastelink said in a press release.

Founded in 2018 by Saket Dave and Krishnan Kasturirangan, Wastelink transforms surplus and waste food from manufacturers and retailers into nutritional animal feed ingredients. Its proprietary feed product, ECOMIX, is supplied to animal feed companies as a raw material.

The startup has also developed an AI-powered reverse supply chain tracking system that provides food companies visibility into the usage of their waste and packaging, while also offering transparency to animal feed companies on raw material processing.

Wastelink claims to serve more than 5,000 pincodes across India, having upcycled over 35,000 tonnes of FMCG surplus into feed ingredients, catering to about 38,500 animals annually.

According to market research, the global upcycled food market is projected to reach $119.8 billion by 2034.

Wastelink competes with players such as Sea6 Energy and Krimanshi.