Student Run Startup GreenGrahi Raises Pre-Seed Funding from Campus Fund

Bangalore, Karnataka, India Business Wire India GreenGrahi develops high quality insect based ingredients for animal and plant nutrition using its novel biotech and engineering processes. The startup announced its pre-seed round of funding from Campus Fund, which will help GreenGrahi double its production capacity, enhance R&D, and facilitate new market entry GreenGrahi, incorporated in 2021, is an Agri-biotech company creating high quality insect based supplements and ingredients for animal and plant nutrition. They get agri by-products from their partner FMCG companies and agri-input suppliers; then use their proprietary tech called Climate CubesTM to breed and rear black soldier flies for transforming low value commodities into valuable nutrients that could be used to grow more food for humans. Inspired by nature and enabled by technology, they aim to create a circular system that is good for both the economy and the planet.

Started by Siddharth Sharma (graduate from BITS Pilani and Kellogg School Of Management) and ShivaliSugand (graduate from TERI school of Advanced Studies and a Humboldt Fellow) – GreenGrahi focuses on providing an alternative to the traditional sources of nutrition through production of superior quality insect-based ingredients and supplements for shrimp, fish, poultry, pets, and plants. The startup is currently running pilots with leading animal and plant nutrition industries and have a production unit in Roorkee to run end-to-end field trials. Moreover, the founders have established a strong R&D network with leading biotech research labs in India, Israel, and Germany to bring innovation to the insect industry.

Global food requirements will double by 2050 because of increasing population and rising living standards. However, 51% of agricultural land and 90% of the world’s marine fish stocks have been exploited in meeting the needs of the current population. Due to this, the animal feed and agricultural companies are facing supply disruptions of essential nutrients leading to unstable and inflated prices globally. At the same time, we are wasting almost 30% of the food that we produce today. There is, therefore, a need for not only nutrient rich feed but also feed which can be produced sustainably using our agricultural residues. “This is where GreenGrahi has stepped up by tapping into the circular economy, delivering a product that aims to outperform traditional methods. By using proprietary bio-chemical processes, we upcycle different agricultural residues into nutrition rich insect ingredients using black soldier flies. With this fundraise we aim to conduct commercial pilots and develop capabilities required for scaling,” said Siddharth Sharma, Co-founder, GreenGrahi.

With successful validations from over 250 interviews with food industries, animal feed companies, insect farming companies, and subject matter experts across the globe, GreenGrahi is getting ready to operate at an industrial scale. Their innovation not only improves production and operational metrics but also results in creating the highest quality insect nutritional profiles available in the Indian market.

Darshan Doshi , Student Investment Partner at Campus Fund, and part of the GreenGrahi deal team highlighted, “What excites us most about the GreenGrahi team is the deep expertise and the vision they bring to the table, along with the large and growing demand for sustainable animal and plant nutrition solutions. Traditional methods of feed production are unsustainable and are prone to multiple externalities such as price shocks. In this backdrop, GreenGrahi’s novel insect ingredients that leverage agricultural residues are well positioned to create a long-lasting impact in the ecosystem.”

Campus Fund champions fearless student entrepreneurs and recent graduates who challenge the status quo. Campus Fund is backed by the Who’s Who of India Inc. and global leaders who believe in the future of India.