Omnivore announces launch of new USD 130m venture fund focusing on agritech, climate sustainability

MUMBAI, 12 April 2022: Omnivore, India's leading agritech venture capital firm, recently announced the launch of its third fund, with a target corpus of USD 130m (INR 1000 crore).

The new fund will continue to invest in early-stage startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy. Omnivore generally invests in Seed, Pre-Series A, and Series A rounds, with follow-on capital for future growth.

Originally founded by Jinesh Shah and Mark Kahn in 2010, Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India, and over the past decade has backed over 35 startups that are making farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable, and climate-proof.

Omnivore is targeting a first close of the new fund by September 2022 and a final close by June 2023. With this new fund, Omnivore expects to make 25 to 30 new investments over the next four years, continuing to fund entrepreneurs building the future of Indian agriculture and food systems.

Omnivore Fund 3 will have a sharper focus on catalyzing climate action in agriculture, backing startups addressing both climate mitigation (reducing India's GHG emissions) and climate adaptation/resilience (securing a future for India's farmers).

Along these lines, earlier this year, Omnivore launched the OmniX Bio initiative to provide additional support to agrifood life science startups, initially targeting the fields of agricultural biotechnology, novel farming systems, bioenergy and biomaterials, as well as innovative foods, including alternative protein.  With the new fund, Omnivore aims to deepen the reach and impact of OmniX Bio and help reboot the agrifood life sciences ecosystem in India.

Mark Kahn, the Managing Partner of Omnivore, stated, "For over a decade now, we have been a part of the evolution of the agritech ecosystem in India. Through Omnivore's investments, we have touched the lives of almost 7 million smallholder farmers, improving their profitability and resilience, while creating value for our investors.  We believe agritech is just getting started, and we look forward to supporting a new generation of entrepreneurs building a future for rural India."

Omnivore currently manages INR 936 crore across two funds, the most recent having closed in April 2019.

Some of Omnivore's leading portfolio companies include DeHaat, Arya, Reshamandi, Stellapps, AgNext, Bijak, Ecozen, AGRIM, Eruvaka, Pixxel, and Animall.  Omnivore's investment approach is aligned with 9 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and the firm is a signatory of both the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM).

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