Bertelsmann India Investments, a corporate venturing subsidiary of media conglomerate Bertelsmann, has led a $27m series C round for India-based agriculture data provider AgroStar, the Economic Times reported yesterday.
Microfinance-focused investment firm Aavishkaar and venture capital firms Accel and Chiratae Ventures also contributed to the round.
Founded in 2013, AgroStar operates an online platform with about 400,000 monthly active users. It provides farmers with real-time farming data and educational content as well as an online store that supplies products and tools that can help improve agricultural yield, such as a crop disease diagnosis tool.
In addition to expanding its digital footprint in India, capital from the series C round will be used to further develop AgroStar’s technology platform and bolster its leadership team with strategic hires.
AgroStar chief executive Shardul Sheth said: “We intend to invest more in data science and strengthen our technology capabilities so that we can provide better real-time and relevant information to more farmers in the country.”
The company reeled in $10m from a March 2017 series B round led by Accel and backed by Aavishkaar and VC firm IDG Ventures India. The latter two had provided $3.7m in series A funding for AgroStar two years earlier.
“We have achieved more than a million downloads and wish to scale it up to 10 million beneficiaries within the next two to three years,” Sheth added.