Aquaculture Fintech Platform AquaExchange Raises $3 Mn From Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab

AquaExchange’s IoT-powered technology helps India’s shrimp and fish farmers improve productivity and increase profits

AquaExchange, a full-stack, tech-driven platform serving India’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp & fish ecosystem, 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 1 Lakh acres of farms by FY23 ending March 2023.

AquaExchange’s vision is to improve farmer productivity and livelihoods by ushering in AquaCulture 4.0 into India. Started in 2020, the company has already touched lives of thousands of Indian farmers with its patented tech and is demonstrating its value proposition to all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

The startup operates across the value chain through: a) Fintech enabled e-commerce platform – that offers high quality inputs at best prices directly from manufacturers; b) unique ‘Hardware-as-a-Service’ model for farm automation – smart, reliable and easy-to-deploy 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 - that facilitates harvests at the farm-gate with transparent pricing and assured spot payments to the smallholder farmers.

Pavan Kosaraju

AquaExchange has patents published for its power management tool “PowerMon” and its feed management tool “AquaBot.” PowerMon is the world’s first patented technology that empowers farmers with complete farm power monitoring and aeration control through the convenience of a mobile app. AquaBot, the world’s only moving auto-feeder that has been deployed at scale, allows farmers to efficiently feed their ponds while maintaining good feed conversion ratios (FCRs).

AquaExchange merged with the device manufacturer NextAqua, founded by Kareem and Kiran, earlier this year. Pavan and the core team comprising Hemasundar, Kareem and Kiran come with strong backgrounds in multinationals, building high impact teams in growth stage startups, consulting, industrial design, and manufacturing.

Pavan Kosaraju, Founder of AquaExchange, said, “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. This in turn will help the other industry players such as Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance Companies to work with farmers and, in the process, unlock industry-wide efficiencies.''

Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, Managing Director 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. AquaExchange’s innovative technologies are addressing several pain points for India’s fish and shrimp farmers — including purchasing supplies, automating processes, and selling products — to ensure that farmers are empowered to continue feeding their communities, ” commented Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion.

According to market reports the global shrimp and fish markets are estimated to grow to $400bn 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.

Gurgaon-based InsurTech Startup Toffee Raises $1.5 Mn in Seed Funding Via Kalaari, Others

Gurgaon-based digital-only insurance (Insur-tech) platform Toffee Insurance has raised $1.5 million ( ~ Rs.10 crore approx.) in a round of seed funding led by Kalaari Capital, Omidyar Network and Accion Venture Lab.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital on product development and expanding its team.

Founded in 2017 by Nishant Jain and Rohan Kumar, Toffee is a technology platform aimed at providing contextual and relevant insurance offerings to a growing youth demographic. The startup claims that buying insurance on its platform takes less than 90 seconds and simple claims are processed in under two hours via a completely digital interface.

According to Crunchbase data, Toffee had earlier raised seed capital of $1,00,000 from Vivek Gujral, who is founder of SaaS-based Insurance firm OneShield, in July 2017.

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital, said the company is on to to create simple and small ticket size insurance products and distribute them in a very contextual way, which has huge potential to drive the mass adoption.

Toffee’s initial lineup of products spans across health, lifestyle and personal accidents with a core focus on simplicity and includes products such as StayFit Toffee, Anti-Dengue Toffee, Globetrotter Toffee, Renter Toffee, Commuter Toffee and Backpacker Toffee, among others.

Rohan Kumar, CEO & Co-Founder, Toffee Insurance, ​said: “Our goal is to unbundle products and repackage them in a youth-friendly way that focuses on the benefits of insurance to almost make it a commoditised way to sell insurance rather than as a financial product.”

The startup said in a statement to a business daily that it also intends to build a strong insur-tech team with capabilities across data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Notably, Toffee is one of the few Insur-tech startups in India. It may be recalled that, recently Acko Technologies, an another Insur-tech startup based out of Mumbai, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Amazon Inc.

The above news was first reported in Moneycontrol.

[Top Image - EnterpriseInnovation.net]

Gurgaon-based InsurTech Startup Toffee Raises $1.5 Mn in Seed Funding Via Kalaari, Others

Gurgaon-based digital-only insurance (Insur-tech) platform Toffee Insurance has raised $1.5 million ( ~ Rs.10 crore approx.) in a round of seed funding led by Kalaari Capital, Omidyar Network and Accion Venture Lab.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital on product development and expanding its team.

Founded in 2017 by Nishant Jain and Rohan Kumar, Toffee is a technology platform aimed at providing contextual and relevant insurance offerings to a growing youth demographic. The startup claims that buying insurance on its platform takes less than 90 seconds and simple claims are processed in under two hours via a completely digital interface.

According to Crunchbase data, Toffee had earlier raised seed capital of $1,00,000 from Vivek Gujral, who is founder of SaaS-based Insurance firm OneShield, in July 2017.

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital, said the company is on to to create simple and small ticket size insurance products and distribute them in a very contextual way, which has huge potential to drive the mass adoption.

Toffee’s initial lineup of products spans across health, lifestyle and personal accidents with a core focus on simplicity and includes products such as StayFit Toffee, Anti-Dengue Toffee, Globetrotter Toffee, Renter Toffee, Commuter Toffee and Backpacker Toffee, among others.

Rohan Kumar, CEO & Co-Founder, Toffee Insurance, ​said: “Our goal is to unbundle products and repackage them in a youth-friendly way that focuses on the benefits of insurance to almost make it a commoditised way to sell insurance rather than as a financial product.”

The startup said in a statement to a business daily that it also intends to build a strong insur-tech team with capabilities across data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Notably, Toffee is one of the few Insur-tech startups in India. It may be recalled that, recently Acko Technologies, an another Insur-tech startup based out of Mumbai, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by Amazon Inc.

The above news was first reported in Moneycontrol.

[Top Image - EnterpriseInnovation.net]

FinTech Startup SmartCoin Raises $2 Mn in Pre Series-A Funding Led By Shanghai-based VC

Bangalore-based fintech startup, SmartCoin, has raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from a top Shanghai headquartered VC fund and Accion Venture Lab. Unicorn India Ventures, which is an existing investor in the company, also participated in the round, along with ISME ACE, a leading fintech accelerator, announced the startup in a press release sent to IndianWeb2.

SmartCoin lends small-to-mid-sized ticket loans to mobile users after building a SmartCoin credit score, which is backed by data science and machine learning. The company raised seed funding from Unicorn India Ventures last year.

Rohit Garg, Co-founder and CEO, SmartCoin, says, “We have seen a sharp uptick in growth over the past year and have successfully disbursed over 50,000 micro loans. More importantly, we have been able to open credit access for people who were not able to tap the formal channels and were otherwise dependent on personal networks and loan sharks. With this round, we expect to grow the momentum and further scale 10X over the next 6–12 months. Having specialists as investors, who are passionate about micro-lending, on board will only help us cover more ground not only in India but globally too."

Accion Venture Lab is the world’s leading seed-stage investor in fintech for the underserved. Accion Venture Lab invests capital in, and provides support to, innovative fintech startups that increase access to, improve the quality of, or reduce the cost of financial services for the underserved at scale.

“SmartCoin illustrates how innovative lenders are leveraging data, mobile access, and India’s digital infrastructure to extend loan access for the financially underserved,” says Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion. Paarul Dudeja, Director of Investments for India, Accion Venture Lab adds, “SmartCoin exemplifies what we at Accion Venture Lab look for in a partner, with its strong entrepreneurial team that is driven by the mission of providing increased access to credit through nano lending to the underserved by using an all-digital platform to expand its reach.”

SmartCoin was started by IIT/IIM alumnus Rohit Garg, Amit Chandel, Vinay Kumar Singh, and Jayant Upadhyay in 2016, who comes with around a decade of work experience across finance and technology domains.

“We invested in SmartCoin last year as we saw an immense potential in the business. Over the course of the year, we have realized the ability of the team to scale its operations rapidly given the right ammunition. Thus, being able to raise top dollar from two of the world’s largest markets is a testament to our belief in the team,” says Archana Priyadarshini, Partner, Unicorn India Ventures. “We expect the Company to continue its growth trajectory and at Unicorn India, we believe in backing potential winners. Thus, we decided to participate in this round,” she adds.

The Company is already working with several partners for disbursing loans and has achieved strong organic growth. SmartCoin plans to further invest in technology and grow its team as it continues with its expansion plans, with an aim to cover a much larger customer base.

FinTech Startup Fundings in Last Few Months -

Just yesterday, Cash Suvidha, a Delhi-based fintech startup, raised $1 million pre-Series A funding from Initia Holdings Ltd.

Last month, a Mumbai based fintech startup Fincash.com raised $150,000 in funding from angel investors including like Mohammed Khan (Founder of Rediffusion), Sameer Narayan (ex- Fund Manager BNP Paribas), among others. Prior to that, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup NiYO Solutions raised $13.2 million in its Series A funding from investors including Social Capital, JS Capital LLC (the family office of Jonathan Soros), and Horizons Ventures and existing investor Prime Venture Partners.

Last November, an Artificial intelligence-powered fintech startup Active.Ai raised $8.25 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures, Creditease Holdings and Dream Incubator.

Other fintech start-ups that have raised funds recently include ZipLoan, Cash Suvidha, Kissht, Shubh Loans, Stashfin, LoanMeet and others.

To recall, according to a NASSCOM report published in November 2017 Fintech and healthcare are most funded segments of startups in India, in past one year. The total number of startups in the fintech space has gone up to 360 from 275 in 2016, thus registering 31% growth in the number of startups.

Top Image - e27.co

FinTech Startup SmartCoin Raises $2 Mn in Pre Series-A Funding Led By Shanghai-based VC

Bangalore-based fintech startup, SmartCoin, has raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from a top Shanghai headquartered VC fund and Accion Venture Lab. Unicorn India Ventures, which is an existing investor in the company, also participated in the round, along with ISME ACE, a leading fintech accelerator, announced the startup in a press release sent to IndianWeb2.

SmartCoin lends small-to-mid-sized ticket loans to mobile users after building a SmartCoin credit score, which is backed by data science and machine learning. The company raised seed funding from Unicorn India Ventures last year.

Rohit Garg, Co-founder and CEO, SmartCoin, says, “We have seen a sharp uptick in growth over the past year and have successfully disbursed over 50,000 micro loans. More importantly, we have been able to open credit access for people who were not able to tap the formal channels and were otherwise dependent on personal networks and loan sharks. With this round, we expect to grow the momentum and further scale 10X over the next 6–12 months. Having specialists as investors, who are passionate about micro-lending, on board will only help us cover more ground not only in India but globally too."

Accion Venture Lab is the world’s leading seed-stage investor in fintech for the underserved. Accion Venture Lab invests capital in, and provides support to, innovative fintech startups that increase access to, improve the quality of, or reduce the cost of financial services for the underserved at scale.

“SmartCoin illustrates how innovative lenders are leveraging data, mobile access, and India’s digital infrastructure to extend loan access for the financially underserved,” says Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion. Paarul Dudeja, Director of Investments for India, Accion Venture Lab adds, “SmartCoin exemplifies what we at Accion Venture Lab look for in a partner, with its strong entrepreneurial team that is driven by the mission of providing increased access to credit through nano lending to the underserved by using an all-digital platform to expand its reach.”

SmartCoin was started by IIT/IIM alumnus Rohit Garg, Amit Chandel, Vinay Kumar Singh, and Jayant Upadhyay in 2016, who comes with around a decade of work experience across finance and technology domains.

“We invested in SmartCoin last year as we saw an immense potential in the business. Over the course of the year, we have realized the ability of the team to scale its operations rapidly given the right ammunition. Thus, being able to raise top dollar from two of the world’s largest markets is a testament to our belief in the team,” says Archana Priyadarshini, Partner, Unicorn India Ventures. “We expect the Company to continue its growth trajectory and at Unicorn India, we believe in backing potential winners. Thus, we decided to participate in this round,” she adds.

The Company is already working with several partners for disbursing loans and has achieved strong organic growth. SmartCoin plans to further invest in technology and grow its team as it continues with its expansion plans, with an aim to cover a much larger customer base.

FinTech Startup Fundings in Last Few Months -

Just yesterday, Cash Suvidha, a Delhi-based fintech startup, raised $1 million pre-Series A funding from Initia Holdings Ltd.

Last month, a Mumbai based fintech startup Fincash.com raised $150,000 in funding from angel investors including like Mohammed Khan (Founder of Rediffusion), Sameer Narayan (ex- Fund Manager BNP Paribas), among others. Prior to that, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup NiYO Solutions raised $13.2 million in its Series A funding from investors including Social Capital, JS Capital LLC (the family office of Jonathan Soros), and Horizons Ventures and existing investor Prime Venture Partners.

Last November, an Artificial intelligence-powered fintech startup Active.Ai raised $8.25 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures, Creditease Holdings and Dream Incubator.

Other fintech start-ups that have raised funds recently include ZipLoan, Cash Suvidha, Kissht, Shubh Loans, Stashfin, LoanMeet and others.

To recall, according to a NASSCOM report published in November 2017 Fintech and healthcare are most funded segments of startups in India, in past one year. The total number of startups in the fintech space has gone up to 360 from 275 in 2016, thus registering 31% growth in the number of startups.

Top Image - e27.co