Artificial intelligence-focused horticultural technology startup Intello Labs has raised Rs 37.3 crore or $5 million in a round led by Avaana Capital which takes the organization’s valuation to around Rs 246 crore or close to $34 million, according to Fintrackr’s estimates.

The round likewise saw support from existing backers Saama Capital alongside Nexus Ventures and Omnivore Partners.

Avaana Capital chipped in with Rs 18.62 crore while Omnivore Partners, Saama Capital and Nexus Ventures invested Rs 6.2 crore each in the round. The organization has likewise allotted 7,706 Series A3 preference shares and 15 equity shares at Rs 47,247 per share, regulatory filings show.

According to Fintrackr’s estimations, the promoters’ property in the organization have been diluted from 21.74% to 18.44% after the fresh financing round.

Omnivore Partners is the biggest shareholder in Intello Labs with a 19.15% stake followed by Nexus Ventures which claims 18.13%. Saama Capital and Avaana command 15.21% and 7.58% stake respectively. Prime supporters Milan Sharma and Nishant Mishra each own a 8.4% stake while the third fellow benefactor, Himani Shah retains just 1.37% stake after this round.

As per its regulatory filings, the organization has likewise passed a special resolution in its memorandum of affiliation which says that it will carry on the business of trade, assembly, re-assembly, pressing, purchase, leasing, renting of a wide range of hardware, machines used for pressing and arranging of different commodities using AI, in India and abroad.

In May last year, the organization had raised $5.9 million in its Series A financing round led by Saama Capital.

Business model and competitors

Started in 2016, Intello Labs deploys image recognition based instruments for the quality assessment of products of the soil. It additionally makes an automated weighing and pressing machine for fresh produce.

It is very like the offerings by agritech startup AgNext which provides AI-based answers for enabling trade at every intersection of purchasing and selling happening in farming and food value chains. AgNext has fabricated proprietary hardware, calculations and software to analyze item quality in multiple spaces like spices, tea, grains, oilseeds, milk, feed among others.

A speedy focus on agritech startups

Last month, TartanSense, an AI-powered robotics arrangements provider empowering little ranch holders, raised $5 million in its Series A round. AgNext likewise raised a little over $21 million led by Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave Incubation. Entrackr had exclusively reported on the round. It was likewise selected by Google for its fifth group of the startup accelerator program in India.

Around 30 startups in the agritech space had raised fundings in 2020 and the trend continues in the continuous calendar year too in which DeHaat, Vegrow, Waycool and Ninjacart have already kicked off their new adjusts.

According to a recent media report, DeHaat is in converses with raise $100 million in what could be one of the largest subsidizing adjusts for an agritech startup in India. Those are very acceptable numbers, considering how controlled India’s agriculture sector is, and the long gestation any agriculture startup needs inferable from the nature of the sector.