Cambridge-based agritech startup KisanHub has raised £1.12 million for its seed-to-sale platform designed to help “growers, field staff, procurement managers and management teams make informed decisions” about improving sustainability in the agri-food industry.
Chief contributions came from the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2) with backing from the Future Fund, and was supported by the existing investors, including IQ Capital, Notion Capital, and Sistema_VC.
The funds are intended to help the company “accelerate” its business in the UK and Europe and “further promote the values of sustainability in food supply chains with the support from government investors”.
The cloud-based connectivity platform combines crop intelligence with supply chain intelligence, ensuring that farms “meet contractual obligations on quality and quantity of the produce” by integrating data from crops, stores, load dispatches, satellites and field sensors.
It translates “raw and complex” food supply chain data sets into “actionable insights” to provide transparency and improve the flow of information across the supply chain from seed to sale.
KisanHub’s target customers are “agricultural enterprises supplying retailers and processors that work with a network of contract farmers and/or own their own farmland”.
For ease of transition, the company is able to integrate enterprises’ existing software or Excel systems in order to provide an end-to-end supply chain management solution.
Among KisanHub’s existing users is the global beverage giant, ABInBev, which has implemented the platform in order to connect with the growers and achieve its 2025 sustainability goals.
In addition, other major British suppliers including Spearhead, Burgess Farm Produce, Manor Fresh, and Jupiter Group have already partnered with KisanHub.
Dmitry Filatov, Managing Partner at Sistema_VC., commented on the news and the opportunities that lay ahead:
“KisanHub technology digitises the agricultural supply chain, improving the transparency and efficiency of the procurement process. The pandemic has only increased the demand for such solutions, as food supply security became more important than ever. Many risks, including seasonal and climatic ones, can be averted through the use of sensors and machine learning, and this is what KisanHub does”.
Axel de Mégille, director at Turquoise (which manages LCIF2), added:
“KisanHub helps keep everyone in the supply chain aware of the state of each batch of produce they are growing, aggregating or retailing, so that they can plan better and reduce waste. This investment fits well into LCIF2’s strategy of investing into technologies that help to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs).”
And Sachin Shende, co-founder and CEO of KisanHub, said:
“We are delighted to welcome LCIF2 as an investor in KisanHub. This investment will enable us to grow the business in the UK and Europe and strengthen our links with local and national governments”.