Agritech startup Eeki has raised $7 million from consumer-focussed fund Sixth Sense Ventures.
The funds will be used for scaling up and expanding farm operations across India, as well as accelerating its technology rollouts.
“We are expanding to other geographies, including the Middle East. Secondly, we are in the process of perfecting other staple vegetables. Thirdly, we are building our own fully automated system for harvesting, pruning, and irrigation, where the entire IoT and automation infrastructure can be developed,” cofounder and chief executive Abhay Singh told ET.
Founded in 2018 by Singh and Amit Kumar, Eeki’s technology enables the farm’s climate to be controlled, allowing vegetables to be grown all year without being affected by seasonal variations.
According to the firm, with 33% of the world’s soil already degraded and 90% projected to be at risk by 2050, crop yields are declining, water resources are being wasted, and vegetable nutritional values have dropped by 30%.
“So, we have developed a growing chamber. It’s a box made from a specific polymer composite. This polymer composite fully emulates the soil, its nutrients, and the climate; it doesn’t use soil,” Singh explained.
The company deploys around 20,000 chambers per acre and is currently active on 100 acres, with another 70 acres under development in Rajasthan.
Singh said that the farm employs around 300 to 350 farmers, of whom 90–95% are women.
In the last one year, Eeki has raised more than $10 million from investors such as Avaana Capital, Better Capital, and General Catalyst in April 2022. It has raised around $15 million since its inception.
Commenting on the investment, Nikhil Vora, founder and chief executive of Sixth Sense Ventures, said, “Sustainable agriculture is critical to future food security. Eeki’s model has proven itself in India’s toughest conditions, with cost efficiency and potential for global scalability.”
In April, agritech startup AgroStar raised $6.7 million from its existing backers, with Accel India leading the round.
In March, agritech startup MapMyCrop raised $1.8 million in a funding round led by YourNest Venture Capital. Similarly, Grow Indigo raised $10 million from the UK government-backed British International Investment (BII).
