Aquaculture technology startup AquaExchange has secured $6 million in Series A funding, with Ocean 14 Capital leading the round, alongside existing investors Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Labs.
The funding will enable AquaExchange to expand the adoption of its full-stack farm automation, crop financing, and harvest procurement systems. Additionally, the company plans to venture into international markets to export its devices.
“We plan to refine and scale our unique reinforcement framework, wherein farmers are immediately incentivised for sustainable practices through reduced input costs and higher offtake prices, emphasising our commitment to sustainable practices in the industry,” Pavan Kosaraju, Founder of Aqua Exchange said.
“With this funding round, we aim to equip many more aquaculture farmers with the right technology to reduce costs and increase productivity while enabling global protein sustainability,” Kosaraju added.
Based in Vijayawada, AquaExchange utilizes technology to boost aquaculture yields, minimize crop risks, and aid farmers in addressing increasing input costs. The platform offers features like power management, feed automation, and aeration control through a smartphone app. Additionally, the company’s automation devices enhance crop visibility for lenders.
“We are really impressed and excited by the speed of growth of AquaExchange. In a short period of time the company managed to deploy technology across a significant part of the Indian aquaculture landscape, both helping to deliver the data, insights and control that can help stabilise customers production while also developing an end-to-end solution providing access to inputs, offtake and finance,” Piers Lakin, Senior Associate of Ocean 14 Capital, said.
In a pre-Series A round, AquaExchange previously secured $3 million in funding from Endiya Partners and Accion Venture Lab, along with the participation of existing investors.
“Their devices have been deployed across thousands of acres in India and have also seen traction in international markets. We’re thrilled to back AquaExchange’s progress, and the team which is driven by the passion to enable competitive, profitable and sustainable aquaculture,” Dr Ramesh Byrapaneni, Managing Director of Endiya Partners, said.
