In a pre-Series A investment round headed by Prime Venture Partners and Zephyr Peacock India, agritech firm Poshn has raised $4 million (about INR 33.3 Cr) in equity and $2 million in debt.
The business, based in New Delhi, plans to use the additional funds to develop further solutions that fill in the holes in the system. In addition, the money will be utilized to grow the company’s operations throughout the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The company says it has raised $8 million in total equity capital with this round.
Poshn, which was founded in 2020 by Bhuvnesh Gupta and Shashank Singh, provides full-stack services for wholesale commodities trading. Through its tri-party commerce platform, millers and stockists can be purchased by wholesale purchasers. It seeks to simplify wholesale commerce in order to organize the agri-supply chain.
“Poshn has already cemented its position in the wholesale segment over the last three years. With the trust of investing partners and infusion of fresh equity, we aggressively integrate forward and backward in the chain and open foreign/export markets over the next 12 months while growing profitably.” Singh stated.
“Poshn has led by being a supply-first company and has meaningfully solved for the B2B food value chain. The company has always been bottom-line focused with a remarkable ROCE and wants to continue expanding that further by going deeper into the supply chain while also pursuing some full-stack vertical integrations. We believe Poshn will be a category-defining company in the coming years, and we are excited to be their partners from day zero,” In a statement, Prime Venture Partners said.
Poshn asserts that it is profitable and maintains that it operates in over 16 Indian states. According to the firm, its sales increased six-fold between FY22 and FY24.
“Poshn has led by being a supply-first company and has meaningfully solved for the B2B food value chain. The company has always been bottom-line focused with a remarkable ROCE and wants to continue expanding that further by going deeper into the supply chain while also pursuing some full-stack vertical integrations. We believe Poshn will be a category-defining company in the coming years, and we are excited to be their partners from day zero,” In a statement, Prime Venture Partners said.
In 2022, Zephyr Peacock and Prime Venture Partner organized a seed investment round for the firm, which raised $4 million in equity.
For its loan needs, it has also cooperated with banks and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) such as ICICI Bank, Alteria Capital, UCIC, Northern Arc, Blacksoil, and Capsave.
Poshn faces competition from companies such as WayCool, AGRIM, Arya.Ag, and Eeki Foods.
Investor interest in the Indian agritech sector has been growing for a while now.
For example, in February of this year, Merak Ventures provided seed money totaling $1.45 million, or around INR 12 crore, to the agritech business Farmtheory.
Another agritech business, Fasal, raised INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn) in Series A funding last year, with British International Investment (BII) and TDK Ventures leading the round.
In 285 transactions between 2014 and February 2024, the Indian agritech industry closed more than $2.4 billion in finance, according to Inc42.
Based on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.9%, the Indian agriculture industry, estimated at $435.9 billion in 2022, is projected to expand to $580.82 billion by 2028.
