September 8, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Omnivore has been a pioneer of investment in agtech in India, having partnered with more than 40 startups making farming more profitable, resilient, sustainable, and climate-proof. And, over the past decade has been a key player in the remarkable tech-driven revolution taking hold in the country as advances in technology and innovation in agriculture have played a crucial role in addressing the challenges faced by India’s farmers. 

Omnivore’s first fund was launched in 2012, holding a $38.8 million close the following year, at which time the firm’s thoughts turned toward the launch of Fund 2. The firm’s second fund had a final close in April 2019 that raised $82 million, and its third and newest fund – the Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund – was launched in April 2022 with the mission to take action to mitigate climate change or to drive resilience and adaptation in the face of climate change, and has since announced its first close at $150 million. 

Carrying forward the goal of focusing on startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy, this third fund has received backing from investors including KfW; the Self Reliant India (SRI) Fund; FMO; SIFEM; the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Inclusive Agritech Facility; Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures; the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF); the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO); and Yara Growth Ventures. 

Already having some of India’s most successful agritech startups in its portfolio, including  DeHaat, Arya, Stellapps, Reshamandi, Ecozen, Aquaconnect, and Pixxel, Omnivore noted that through their Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund they expect to make 25-30 new Seed and Series A investments with initial tickets ranging from $1 million to $5 million addressing key themes such as agrifood life sciences, rural fintech, and climate-smart agriculture. 

“The greatest risk and opportunity for Indian agriculture are the adverse effects of climate change,” said Mark Kahn, managing partner, Omnivore, in June 2023. ”Our new fund will have a sharper focus on catalyzing climate action in agriculture by funding startups addressing climate mitigation and climate adaptation.”

Now the fund has made its first investment, leading a $3.5 million Seed round for altM, a biomaterials startup aiming to develop and manufacture scalable biomaterials to help key industries reduce their supply chain carbon footprint.

Additional investors who participated in the round include Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, Sanjiv Rangrass, Neha Mudaliar, Maninder Gulati from OYO, Mirik Gogri from Spectrum Impact, and Paula Mariwala from Aureolis Ventures.

Founded last year in Bengaluru by Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, who met while working at Tesla in the U.S., altM uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues, due to their functional properties and sustainability potential, as its feedstock to produce advanced alternative materials designed to replace those that are traditionally unsustainable.

“The scale-up of a technology from a laboratory bench to commercial production is not a trivial undertaking,” said Apoorv Garg, CEO and co-founder, altM. “Production scale-up is often the death valley for biotech startups. Our focus on go-to-market strategy, execution, and production scale-up will be the differentiator to most endeavors we see in the world of biomaterials today.”

And with scaling in mind, altM has built a team with the background and experience to make it happen.

Prior to the launch of altM, Garg, who is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley (M.Eng.) and Delhi College of Engineering (B.Tech.), served in supply chain and engineering leadership roles at Prometheus Fuels, Tesla, and Maruti Suzuki. Meanwhile, altM co-founder Jain, who is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.Eng.) and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (B.E.), previously held engineering roles at Tesla, managing several factory and product launches.

The team also includes Dr. Harshad Velankar, who has more than 20 years of academic and industrial experience across India, the U.S., and South Africa, having led bioprocess research at HPCL, and having held positions at Praj Industries and Reliance Life Sciences. 

“With Apoorv and Yugal’s background in manufacturing excellence, altM’s entry into industrial alternative materials will hasten the global shift towards sustainability and circularity,” said Kahn. “Omnivore is very excited to be a part of their journey as we kick off our new fund.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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