Nutrifresh, an agri-tech start-up focusing on residue-free, and chemical-free produce, has attracted $5 million as pre-series seed funding. The funding is led by Theodore Cleary (Archer Investments), Sandiip Bhammer (managing partner – Green Frontier Capital), Sky Kurtz (CEO and co-founder of Pure Harvest AE) and Mathew Cyriac (Florintree Advisors and ex MD of Blackstone India). Other investors include Dr Soumitra Dutta (Dean Elect – Saïd Business School, University of Oxford), Shaishav Dharia (Regional CEO, Lodha Group) and Karan Goshar (Samarthya Investment Advisors LLP).
Founded in 2019 by Sanket Mehta and Ganesh Nikam, the Pune-based startup uses the hydroponic method to produce fruits and vegetables. It sells fresh produce to other organizations as well as consumers via its website and mobile-based app. It claims to deliver products to customers within 24 hours of harvest. It is directly selling to almost 15,000 households in the twin cities of Mumbai and Pune.
Sanket Mehta, cofounder, Nutrifresh Farm Tech Farms, said, “With these funds, Nutrifresh aims to enhance the production capacities and bring in standardization in the production process thus, scaling the farms with requisite SOPs to gain a higher competitive edge. Nutrifresh wants to establish itself as a household brand.”
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Nutrifresh has an existing facility under protected cultivation which uses high-quality seeds from Israel and US, where the air is supplied in controlled measures, water is RO purified and nutrients are water-soluble. The entire production is controlled right from procurement of seeds, germination, nursery, harvesting, packaging and finally delivery of the product to the end-user. The produce reaches the consumer within 24 hours of harvest.
Through the implementation of centralised nutrient and pumping systems and a close looped irrigation methodology, Nutrifresh uses 90 per cent less water than a conventional farm. Over 80 per cent of their farm workforce is women and Nutrifresh aims to skill them with the most modern techniques and achieve complete self-sustenance.
“Agri tech and Food tech are both big focus areas for our Climate Mitigation-focused venture fund and we are constantly looking to explore and invest in innovative businesses run by dynamic entrepreneurs with compelling business models,” said Sandiip Bhammer, Managing Partner of Green Frontier Capital. “Nutrifresh is all of these and more.
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