Food and agriculture-focused fund Omnivore VC has agreed to sell its holdings in Barrix Agro Sciences to Sumitomo Chemical India Limited (SCIL), a subsidiary of a Japanese fertilizer and pesticide maker.
Consultancy firm EY will be serving as the exclusive financial advisor to Barrix and its shareholders during this exit.
This will be Omnivore’s third exit in just over a year. In March 2023, Omnivore divested its interest in MITRA, a precision sprayer manufacturer, to farm machinery giant Mahindra. Last year, in July, the venture capital firm sold its stake in Eruvaka, an aquaculture IoT startup, to Nutreco, a global leader in animal nutrition and aquaculture.
In 2013, Omniwore became Barrix’s first institutional investor alongside IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE. According to a statement from the investor, Barrix was one of the earliest entrants in India’s then-nascent agritech startup ecosystem.
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“Over the years, the startup has proven the efficacy of their innovations in minimising crop damage and labor costs.” Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said.
“We are very proud to have been an early believer in Barrix,” he added.
Lokesh Makam established Bengaluru-based Barrix in 2011, pioneering early advancements in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Integrated Plant Nutrition Management (IPNM) products. It has been working on technologies to monitor and trap agricultural pests.
Mark Kahn and Shah founded Omnivore in 2011. The company has supported more than 40 startups, including DeHaat, Reshamandi, and Pixxel.
In June this year, Omnivore successfully raised $150 million as the first close of its third fund, exceeding its $130 million target.
The Omnivore Agritech and Climate Sustainability Fund, launched in April of the previous year, aimed to invest in 25-30 agritech startups across seed and Series A funding rounds, with investment amounts ranging between $1 million and $5 million.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
