Aquaconnect, a full-stack aquaculture input and outputs platform, has raised ₹60 crore ($8 million) in a venture debt funding round led by Trifecta Capital. The start-up plans to utilise the freshly raised capital to enhance its presence across India by expanding its network of Aqua partners. These franchise stores enable access to quality input products to the fish and shrimp farmers.

The funds will also be used to expand the scale of operations and enhance Aquaconnect’s post-harvest market linkage solutions, the company said in a statement. Improving market linkage will allow the farmers to reach out to a broader range of potential buyers, thus increasing value realisation.

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

‘Achieving our goals’

“The fresh round of capital will help us achieve this goal by paving the way for expansion of our aqua partners network in India and help the aquaculture farmers reach more buyers by strengthening our post-harvest market linkage solutions,” said Rajamanohar Somasundaram, Founder and CEO, Aquaconnect.

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 facilitate aquaculture farmers to realise better prices for their produce and provide access to high-quality inputs at fair prices.

“Trifecta Capital is proud to partner with Aquaconnect which with its wide aqua-farmers network, strong tech-stack and experienced team will be able to solve the multiple challenges that the Indian aquaculture sector faces today,” Kothari said.

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