Kerala, Malabar Coast, South India.
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AquaExchange, an aquaculture technology and fintech startup, informed it has raised USD 6 million in Series A funding led by Ocean 14 Capital with participation from existing investors including Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab.
The company, which serves, India’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp and fish ecosystem, explained that its devices "enable farm automation and improve crop visibility for lenders and customers leading to premium prices and reduced costs for farmers."
One of mains AquaExchange's products consists of feed automation devices, called AquaBot. This is the only commercially deployed mobile auto-feeder enabling significant farm automation.
According to AquaExchange, the funding received will be used to scale the adoption of the company’s full-stack business model including farm automation, crop financing, and harvest procurement. The company also plans to focus its efforts on a few international markets for device exports.
Pavan Kosaraju, Founder of Aqua Exchange, said: "AquaExchange is committed to transforming aquaculture through technology. This round of funding strengthens our position as leaders in the aquaculture technology and fintech sectors."
In addition, he explained: "We plan to refine and scale our unique reinforcement framework, wherein farmers are immediately incentivized for sustainable practices through reduced input costs and higher offtake prices, emphasizing our commitment to sustainable practices in the industry. With this funding round, we aim to equip many more aquaculture farmers with the right technology to reduce costs and increase productivity while enabling global protein sustainability."
On the other side, Piers Lakin, Senior Associate of Ocean 14 Capital, stated: "We are really impressed and excited by the speed of growth of AquaExchange. In a short period of time the Company managed to deploy technology across a significant part of the Indian aquaculture landscape, both helping to deliver the data, insights, and control that can help stabilize customers' production while also developing an end-to-end solution providing access to inputs, offtake, and finance."
From Endiya Partners, Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, Managing Director, indicated: "AquaExchange is a compelling investment choice in the evolving aquaculture landscape. The company’s advanced technologies enable increased farm profitability while providing relevant data for market intelligence and building robust credit models. Their devices have been deployed across thousands of acres in India and have also seen traction in international markets. We’re thrilled to back AquaExchange’s progress, and the team which is driven by the passion to enable competitive, profitable, and sustainable aquaculture."
Finally, Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, commented: "We continue to support AquaExchange’s growth as the company works with aquaculture farmers to automate farm operations and digitize their supply chain. AquaExchange’s exponential growth, impressive retention rates, and ability to provide credit and other responsible financial solutions to farmers clearly show embedded finance solutions are an effective way to help farmers profitably grow their businesses in India and beyond."