TDK Ventures and British International Investment (BII) led the Rs 100 crore (roughly $12 million) Series A round that full-stack horticulture startup Fasal raised. All of the current investors, including 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners, Genting Ventures, and The Yield Labs Asia Pacific, also participated in the round.
Prior to this, the Bengaluru-based startup raised $4 million under 3one4 Capital’s leadership in its pre-Series A round. The startup raised $1.6 million in its first funding round in 2019, with Omnivore and Wavemarket Partners leading the way.
According to a press release from the company, the new funds will be utilized for business expansion in India and Southeast Asia as well as to support sustainable horticultural practices globally.
Using AI, crop sciences, and IOT to provide crop-stage-specific intelligence, Fasal was founded in 2018 by Shailendra Tiwari and Ananda Verma. This allows for the optimization of resources (water, pesticides, etc.) and increased farm productivity.
It purchases farm produce under the B2B brand Fasal Fresh in order to maximize supply chain play and guarantee the best market rates for farmers.
With its patented IoT-crop intelligence technology, the startup says it has worked with horticulture farmers covering more than 75,000 acres to grow crops like bananas, apples, cardamom, grapes, and pomegranates.
Fasal claims that farmers using its platform have improved their yields and quality by up to 30% while using 82.8 billion fewer liters of irrigation water and 127,426 kg less pesticides.
