CropIn Technology Solutions raises pre-Series A funding

Agri-tech firm CropIn Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-Series A funding from Singapore-based early-stage fund Beenext.
 

Social venture funds Ankur Capital and BSP Fund, which are existing investors in CropIn, also participated in the round, the company’s spokesperson confirmed to VCCircle. BSP Fund is a seed fund managed by Boston- and Nairobi-based impact investor Invested Development.
 

Bangalore-based CropIn had last raised $2 million from Denmark’s Sophia Investment ApS in August 2016. The transaction valued the company at $12 million. Seeders Venture Fund, which backs software, games, software-as-a-service and mobile application companies, is also an investor in the firm.
 

CropIn’s farm management software and apps enable connected and data-driven farming. They provide users with real-time data and insights to improve the financial and operational aspects of agriculture.
 

The company was founded in 2010 by Krishna Kumar, a graduate in instrumentation and electronics engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University. Prior to setting up the venture, he worked in various roles at General Electric.
 

The Economic Times was the first to report the fund-raise.
 

The farm-tech space has seen several venture capital investments of late.
 

Last month, agri-tech startup Crofarm, which connects farmers with retailers, raised Rs 5 crore in a pre-Series A round led by US-based venture development firm Factor[e] Ventures, Google India managing director Rajan Anandan and PayU India managing director Jitendra Gupta.
 

Noida-based EM3 Agri Services Pvt. Ltd, which offers on-demand farming services and machinery, raised $10 million in a Series B round led by London-based Global Innovation Fund, and existing investor Aspada Investments.
 

In March, Indian Angel Network made an undisclosed investment in Gurgaon-based FarMart, a renting platform for farm equipment.
 

In February, Delhi-based VDSS Agri Tech Pvt. Ltd, which owns and operates Paalak.in, raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from a clutch of angel investors.
 

In January, Mumbai-based RML AgTech Pvt. Ltd, which provides support services to farmers via mobile phones, raised $4 million (Rs 27.2 crore) from existing investor IvyCap Ventures.