Agritech Startup Eekifoods Raises Pre-Series A Funding The startup will use the funds for further technology development, scaling operations and team building

Gurugram-based agritech startup Eekifoods on Monday announced it has raised pre-Series A funding from GSF Accelerator. Other investors in this round include Naho Shigeta, founder and chief executive officer, Infobridge Holdings; Shalin Sanjay Shah, director, Core91 VC; and a Gulf-based Syndicate. Existing Eekifoods investors; Sumit Jain, country head, BirdEye; and Dipesh Palodalso participated in the round.

The startup said the funds will primarily be used for further technology development, scaling operations and team building.

"Eekifoods is borne out of two years of research and development of a unique technology, which focuses on inculcating cutting-edge agricultural techniques that are both sustainable and economically viable. Today, we are able to grow tomatoes, bottle gourd, eggplant, cucumber and other vegetables and sell them profitably at near market prices. "We are excited to have the backing of renowned investors like GSF Accelerator at such an early stage, and this funding is a strong validation of our mission at Eekifoods to build the most sustainable agriculture platform in the world," said Abhay Singh, co-founder, Eekifoods.

Founded in 2019, Eekifoods has developed a proprietary vegetable growing technology, which allows it to produce completely residue-free, Indian, and exotic vegetables and sell them profitably at near-market prices. This has been possible because its technology has reduced the cost of growing by as much as 40 per cent for a variety of Indian fruit-bearing vegetables, as compared to other coco-peat-based hydroponics technologies.

The startup was founded by Amit Kumar and Abhay Singh, graduates from IIT Bombay.

"Eekifoods has the most advanced Hydroponics technology developed indigenously by Indian talent. Companies like Eeki are important to the future of Indian agriculture. Eeki provides a leapfrog opportunity to Indian agriculture and its modernization," added Rajesh Sawhney, founder and chief executive officer, GSF Accelerator.

Unlike several other hydroponic growers focusing on producing exotic vegetables, Eekifoods also grows popular Indian vegetables like coriander, tomato, eggplant, cucumber, and bitter gourd, the company said.

Founded in 2012, the technology accelerator GSF, with a portfolio of hits including Whatfix, Slintel, Quizizz, Docsapp, Flinto, Citymall, Gamezop, Well Being, Zen Duty, Khabri, and Vaultedge. The accelerator has also had several successful exits including Little Eye Labs (acquired by Facebook), Dailyrounds (bought by M3 Japan), and Pokkt (acquired by Anymind, Japan) among others.

Eekifoods also said it is looking for new farm partners, and the startup in turn will provide them with consistent income via farming-as-a-service. The startup currently has four functional farms in Rajasthan that are remotely managed and controlled by Eeki's farm IoT. It is looking to set up at least twelve more farms by the end of this financial year and produce 84 metric tons of produce monthly, for sale in the NCR and Rajasthan area.