changeadminAgritech firm Eeki Foods has secured $7 million in a Series A round from Mumbai-based Sixth Sense Ventures, along with other smaller investors.
Kota-based Eeki specialises in building climate-proof farms that enable food to be grown throughout the year, unaffected by seasonal variations.
Abhay Singh and Amit Kumar, IIT-Bombay graduates, started Eeki Foods from a rooftop in Kota, Rajasthan. Initially, the company began by growing tomatoes using hydroponics and now employs a patented, IoT-enabled, climate-controlled aeroponic system to produce a variety of food crops.
Agritech startup collaborates with landowners to establish multi-layer farms with growing chambers that regulate temperature, humidity, pH, and electrical conductivity to provide ideal growing conditions. The chambers are soil-free, where plant roots are suspended in air and nourished with nutrient-rich mist.
Hydroponics and aeroponics are highly relevant in today’s environmental context due to their ability to address key challenges such as water scarcity, land degradation, and the carbon footprint of traditional agriculture.
Both systems use minimal water—hydroponics involves growing plants in nutrient-rich water, while aeroponics allows plants to grow in air, with their roots suspended and misted with nutrients.
These methods drastically reduce water consumption compared to conventional soil-based farming, making them ideal for Rajasthan, a region that frequently experiences drought and water shortages.
Additionally, they require less land space, which is increasingly important as urbanisation expands and arable land shrinks. Furthermore, by minimising the need for pesticides and fertilisers, they reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and contribute to more sustainable food production practices.
In a world where resource efficiency and sustainability are paramount, Eeki Foods offers a solution for growing food in a rapidly changing climate.
In April 2022, the Kota-based startup raised $6.5 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst with participation from Avaana Capital and Better Capital. The fresh infusion will help Eeki Foods to scale up innovation and rapidly expand farm operations across India.
In 2022, the company found a place in the Change Started Green Startup of the Year. Read the complete list.
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