B2B food processing start-up Suite42 raises $4.3 mn in seed funding

Suite42 says its technology helps clients to make fair price discovery, reduce processing cost

Suite42, a B2B food-processing company, has raised $4.3 million in a seed-funding round co-led by Omnivore and Orios Venture Partners.

Titan Capital, All In Capital, Pointone Capital, and angel investors including Sujeet Kumar (Udaan) participated in the round. Suite42 provides manufacturing solutions for food processing, serving clients in FMCG, agribusiness, and grocery industries. Suite42 plans to use the funding for talent acquisition, launching raw material financing, and piloting exports. In the next 18 months, the start-up plans to work with B2B clients and 2,000 trade outlets across cities.

Suite42 said India has more than 40,000 food processing units that suffer from multiple inefficiencies including low capacity utilisation, lack of quality standardisation, high wastage, and limited access to working capital financing. Suite42’s B2B food processing platform will address these issues by identifying manufacturing partners, enabling fair price discovery, reducing processing cost, product development, and ensuring quality standardisation.

“We are excited to start our journey of potentially redefining the food processing industry in India. Our mission is to empower food manufacturers in India by leveraging technology and building efficient and standardized processes. Consequently, brands and consumers will have access to premium products and ingredients at affordable prices,” said Rahul Ratan, co-founder and CEO of Suite42.

Suite42 is based in Bengaluru and it was founded in 2022 by Ratan, Ramakrishna Cheruku, Chethan S, and Shriram S. Ratan and Cheruku are IIT graduates who have worked with Udaan and Microsoft, respectively. Chethan is an NIT graduate who has previously worked with Udaan and Hyundai Motors. Shriram, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow, has also worked with Udaan.

“The sector is highly unorganized with deep inefficiencies. Less than 5% of India's agricultural output is processed, preventing realization of profits across the value chains. We are excited to see Suite42 revitalize the food processing space in India,” said Jinesh Shah, managing partner of Omnivore.

“Suite42 is building a platform to digitize the back end of a food brand from procurement to packaging. The team is targeting a massive TAM and manages the entire supply chain for the brand. We are excited to partner with the team in their endeavor to make food processing more efficient,” said Vinit Bhansali, senior vice president at Orios Venture Partners.