[Funding alert] Aquaconnect raises Rs 60 Cr in venture debt from Trifecta Capital

Aquaconnect, the tech-driven aquaculture focused startup, has raised Rs 60 crore in venture debt round of funding led by Trifecta Capital.

Aquaconnect, which provides its services across the entire value chain of aquaculture, will use this funding round to strengthen its presence in the Indian market. This would entail the expansion of its franchise stores under the Aqua partners brand that provides input products to the fish and shrimp farmers.

Founded in 2017, the startup also plans to use this fresh capital to expand the scale of operations and enhance its post-harvest market linkage solutions. It noted that through improving market linkage, the farmers will be able to reach out to a broader range of potential buyers, thus increasing their value realisation.

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On the fund raise, Rajamanohar Somasundaram, Founder and CEO of Aquaconnect, said,

“At Aquaconnect, our aim is to make the aquaculture value chain more efficient and transparent while increasing value realisation through tech intervention. The fresh round of capital will help us achieve this goal.”

Aquaconnect works with fish and shrimp farmers to improve farm productivity, financial access, and market linkage through technology solutions. The startup has been working to navigate the challenges in the aquaculture value chain through an integrated tech-driven approach and aims to become the largest aquaculture value chain aggregator.

Nilesh Kothari, Managing Partner, Trifecta Capital, said,

“Aquaconnect is a pioneer in the aquaculture sector and is digitising the entire value chain connecting farmers with input manufacturers and institutional buyers. In the process, they are facilitating aquaculture farmers to realise better prices for their produce, and providing access to high quality inputs at fair prices. India is among the top three seafood producing countries and yet the sector is largely unorganised.”

Aquaconnect is a full-stack aquaculture input and output platform with embedded fintech, supported by a physical & digital distribution network. It works with over 60,000 farmers across multiple states.