AquaExchange raises $3 mn from Endiya Partners, Accion Venture Lab

AquaExchange, India’s shrimp trading platform, has raised $3 million in pre-Series A funding from Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab, with participation from existing investors. The company will deploy the capital in strengthening its technology, e-commerce operations & expanding its farm automation footprint to over 100,000 acres of farms by the end of FY23.

The startup operates across the value chain through: a) fintech enabled e-commerce platform – that offers prices directly from manufacturers; b) ‘hardware-as-a-Service’ model for farm automation –IoT devices under the brand name ‘NextAqua’ - on subscription basis - for automated feeding and 24x7 farm monitoring; and c) ‘harvest-as-a-Service’ market linkage platform.

AquaExchange has patents published for its power management tool “PowerMon” and its feed management tool “AquaBot.”

“At AquaExchange, the key focus is on adding value to the aquaculture farming process through the use of advanced technology. Our IoT devices and automatic feeders have been installed at scale and are helping farmers with higher reliability/efficiencies in terms of aeration and feed management, while at the same time providing RoIs within the first quarter of usage. We believe that future aquaculture farmers should be equipped with the right data at the right time to ensure higher crop successes and also increase farming productivity," said Pavan Kosaraju, founder of AquaExchange.

Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, MD of Endiya Partners, added, “We’re excited to back the brilliant team of AquaExchange in their vision to transform the aquaculture landscape in India and globally to benefit a large number of aqua farmers. With its differentiated proprietary technology for farm automation and power management, AquaExchange will not only help bring in efficiencies across the aquaculture value chain but also generate solid data driven insights to bring in access to formal credit that has largely remained elusive for the sector”.

“As rising inflation and supply chain disruptions make it harder for low-income families to put food on the table, it’s crucial that farmers are supported with the tools they need to sustain and grow their businesses, ” commented Michael Schlein, president and CEO of Accion.

According to market reports, the global shrimp and fish markets are estimated to grow to $400 billion by 2027. This market is at the threshold of a massive change in terms of technology adoption for efficient farming. Companies like AquaExchange are at the forefront in terms of ushering in AquaCulture 4.0 which is needed to facilitate such productivity increases.