Chennai-based Aquaconnect on Thursday announced that it has raised $1.1 million in seed round of funding from venture capital firm Omnivore and aquaculture startup accelerator HATCH.
Aquaconnect is an aquaculture technology venture that offers data-driven farm advisory and marketplace solutions to shrimp and fish farmers.
In a press statement, Aquaconnect said that it is focused on India’s $7.1 billion aquaculture sector, which produces almost 700,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp annually, and has become the top global exporter in recent years.
Prior to this, Aquaconnect received angel funding from HATCH and for Omnivore, this is its second investment in an aquaculture start-up, following Eruvaka from its first fund in 2013, the press statement added.
With the current round of funding, Aquaconnect plans to accelerate the growth of its aquaculture farmer network, roll out deep tech improvements to its mobile application FarmMOJO, launch new SaaS tools for the aquaculture ecosystem, and expand monetisation across its omnichannel marketplace.
The release said Aquaconnect currently has a network of over 3,000 shrimp farmers across India and Indonesia and the company is planning to expand rapidly across South and South-East Asia.
Aquaconnect’s FarmMOJO, which uses AI and predictive analytics, helps shrimp farmers to increase their farm revenues, minimise costs, and reduce risks through better disease management. It also links the farmer network to an omnichannel marketplace, where they can transact with feed producers, laboratories, equipment manufacturers, and exporters.