Ecozen Solutions: Seeding deep tech into agri sector

Headquartered in Pune, deeptech startup Ecozen was founded on-campus by three IIT Kharagpur students: Devendra Gupta, Prateek Singhal and Vivek Pandey. It develops climate-smart deeptech solutions and core technology stacks, including motor controls, IoT, and energy storage, for what its co-founders call “a sustainable future”. Applying these technology stacks to the agricultural sector, Ecozen has established a presence in the cold chain segment (Ecofrost) and the irrigation industry (Ecotron), substantially raising the income of 100,000+ farmers and enabling the generation of over one billion units of clean energy (kWh).

Ecofrost is a solar-powered decentralised cold storage solution which employs innovative thermal energy storage technology, and it has seen over 450 units being deployed so far. Ecotron is a solar pumping solution which leverages embedded IoT, predictive analytics and advanced motor controls to help improve irrigation efficiency and agricultural profitability, having been adopted by over 70,000 farmers until now.

Backed by strong demand for its cold chain and irrigation products, Ecozen crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue in FY2021-22 and was Ebitda positive. It has also executed successful pilots abroad and been able to generate  demand in African and Southeast Asian countries. It is on track to more than double its sales in FY2022-23 and become highly profitable, the company’s co-founders say, with scaling of existing businesses as well as expansion in overseas markets likely to aid future growth.

Recently, Ecozen announced that it had raised Rs 54 crore of additional funding as the first tranche of a planned Rs 200-crore Series C round. Devendra Gupta, CEO and co-founder of Ecozen, said, “The new funding will be used for expanding our product range and manufacturing capacity, and boosting exports. Expansion outside India and in areas besides agriculture will enable the company to grow exponentially while ensuring sustainability.”

The new funding round was led by Dare Ventures, the venture capital arm of Coromandel International, with participation from existing investors Caspian and Hivos-Triodos Fonds (managed by Triodos Investment Management) through the equity route. Northern Arc, UC Inclusive Credit, Maanaveeya, and Samunnati participated with debt funding. Early investors in Ecozen include IFA and Omnivore.

Ecozen sees significant prospects for its technology stacks, as also climate-smart solutions, in sectors besides agriculture, particularly the electric vehicle segment. It expects the market size for its technology stacks in India to grow to $25 billion by 2025. It will be launching multiple products in the coming years, building on its deep expertise in thermal energy storage, motor controls, IoT, and analytics.

GOING STRONG

— Ecozen’s solutions have raised the income of 100,000+ farmers and enabled generation of over one billion units of clean energy
— It recently announced that it had raised Rs 54 crore of additional funding as the first tranche of a planned Rs 200-crore Series C round
— The start-up crossed Rs 100 cr in revenue in FY2021-22 and was Ebitda positive