Blockchain-powered agritech startup TraceX raises $1 Mn

TraceX raises USD 1 million in pre-series A funding led by NABARD backed NABVENTURES Fund.

TraceX Technologies, a blockchain powered agritech platform that enhances supply chain traceability and transparency, has raised $1 million in pre-series A funding led by NABARD backed NABVENTURES Fund. The round also saw participation from Paipal Ventures, an early stage family office investment fund, and from angel investor Sunil Kumar.

The newly raised capital will be used towards scaling up operations across geographies in India and in international markets, enhancing the technology platform, foraying into other value chains and for building high performance teams across functions. 

Founded in 2019 by Srivatsa Sreenivasarao and Anil Nadig, TraceX harnesses the power of blockchain technology to build clean, transparent, and traceable supply chains across the food and agriculture ecosystem. 

A report published by Markets and Markets indicates that the food traceability market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% with its estimated value reaching USD 26.1 Billion by 2025.  Increasing consumer awareness on safe food products, growing demand for healthy and ethically sourced products, and focus on transparency are some of the reasons behind this demand. Transparency and traceability are the two key pillars to building consumer trust. TraceX was founded with an aim to create connected and traceable supply chains to provide accountability and transparency for every stakeholder in the supply chain. 

In addition to building trust among consumers, TraceX also offers a significant value add to farmers and food and agri businesses. For farmers, it helps boost productivity, improve market linkages and enhance the quality of the produce. On the other hand, it helps food companies conform to regulatory compliances, reduce losses due to wastage, better  inventory management, and  timely product recalls in case of contamination. 

Commenting on the fundraise, Anil Nadig, Co-Founder, TraceX, said, “Traceability is more relevant today than ever before. More and more consumers are keen to know about the origins of the food they buy, the processes it undergoes and the journey it takes before it reaches them. Due to the opacity in supply chains, consumers today have no way to trace and track the products they buy. Traceability in the supply-chain bridges the information and trust gap among consumers, agri-businesses, and farmers. At TraceX, we believe that transparency builds trust and we are on a mission to create credible, connected and sustainable supply chains for the world. We are thrilled to have NABVENTURES join us on our journey. Their tremendous experience in the field of food and agriculture will help us accelerate our vision of building a globally connected food network on blockchain.”

Commenting on the future of food traceability, Dr. G. R. Chintala, Chairman of NABARD and NABVENTURES, said, “Traceability is the future of Indian agriculture. Leveraging technology to showcase transparency will allow farmers and FPOs to command a premium for their produce. Traceability solutions empower farmers to follow sustainable climate resilient practices ensuring continuous productivity.” 

TraceX’s SaaS platform integrates with the existing digital infrastructure in the supply chains and brings all the stakeholders onto the blockchain network, ensuring a single source of truth from farm to fork. In addition to food safety and operational efficiency, TraceX also helps companies build sustainable supply chains for the future.

Speaking about the investment, Rajesh Ranjan, CEO, NABVENTURES, said, “A typical  agri-food supply chain is unorganized, and the data is stored in silos. This results in a disconnected supply chain, limited interoperability and compromised transparency across transactions. Given the increasing demand for providing credibility to claims made by brands on sustainable sourcing, food handling and other aspects, TraceX is the right platform - neutral, independent, and a credible solution for building traceable supply chains  from farm to fork. It organizes the entire supply chain by providing connected, secured, auditable and verifiable information via blockchain.”

TraceX currently has a B2B SaaS subscription model where it works with companies across livestock, poultry, seafood, and agri supply chains. The startup currently works with 30+ food companies that include prominent names such as Olam, MTR Foods, Slay Coffee, Govt of Telangana, GoDesi, BlueTokai, Sam Agri, Milk Mantra and many others.

Commenting on the company’s future plans, Srivatsa Sreenivasarao, CEO and Co-founder, said, "We have received an overwhelming response from our customers for the kind of positive impact our product has created. We are working towards further enhancing our product by leveraging Asset Tokenization (NFTs), AI, ML, IoT to provide digital empowerment to all the participants in the supply chain. Our aim is to  harness the power of Web3 technologies to build a large  distributed autonomous supply chain network for food and agriculture businesses. Over the next few months, we plan to extend our offerings to encompass carbon offsets and climate action goals of companies. We also plan to aggressively scale up operations in international geographies.”