By Lynda Kiernan
Indian agtech startup Nu Genes has secured a $6 million investment from Sathguru Catalyser Advisor’s Innovation in Food and Agriculture Fund (IFA).
This is the third investment made by IFA in just about a month’s time following its $4 million investment made in the end of November in Telluris Biotech, a startup developing biological products to control Plant root knot and cyst nematode pests, and its participation in a $6 million round along with Omnivore Partners in mid-December in Ecozen, a company working to address challenges along the entire fresh produce supply chain.
Headquartered in Hyderabad and founded in 2004 by Narayana Reddy Punyala, Nu Genes develops and produces vegetable, cereal, and grain crop seeds that offer high resilience and stress tolerance to tropical climate conditions in India and across Asia.
With biotechnology and testing labs, processing facilities, a poly-house for working with genetically modified crops, and 50,000 square feet of storage, Nu Genes is currently focusing its work to develop new varieties of maize, sorghum, millet, tomatoes, okra, watermelons, and bitter and bottle gourds.
The company is conducting ongoing trials on 60 acres of research farms, and is collaborating with international institutes such as ICRISAT, and its R&D platform has been recognized by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), and the Ministry of Science & Technology of the government of India.
Formerly known as Nitya Seed Sciences, Nu Genes’s research team is led by a scientist with nearly 30 years of experience in plant breeding technologies, and is led by a managing director with two decades of exposure to India’s national seed market. With IFA and the capital from this investment, Nu Genes plans to expand its product range and its international market presence.
“We have chosen the investment from IFA Fund due to deep insights our investors bring in propelling our growth,” said P N Reddy, founder and CEO, Nu Genes.
Sathguru Catalyser Advisors launched the IFA as an agriculture and food sector-focused fund that supports technology-driven companies across India by providing what is needed for growth, be that capital, or access to markets, or technology.
The fund’s mandate is to invest in enterprises launched by “visionary promoters, and competent management capable of addressing difficult and not marginally incremental problems in agriculture, food, animal health and the environment,” according to the fund’s website.
Through its investment in Nu Genes, Sethguru Catalyser’s Chairman Krishna Kumar said that the goal is to meet the needs of farmers faced with having to adapt to climate change.
“Our focus on investment in Nu Genes is to address future needs of the farmers in adapting to climate change and provide seed traits that can be adopted in dry land and humid tropical farms,”said Kumar. “Nu Genes products have potential to secure footprint in several needy countries.”
– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.