Headquartered at Pune in Maharashtra, Ecozen, a provider solar cold storage and solar pumps, has completed $6 million (~₹423 million) in Series A fundraise. Sathguru Catalyser’s Innovation in Food and Agriculture Fund (IFA fund) is the investor.

According to the company, the funding is in addition to the investment received in July 2019 from Caspian and the Hivos-Triodos Fund. Omnivore, which originally invested in Ecozen in 2015, also participated.

According to the company, Ecozen’s three main products include Ecofrost, Ecotron, and Eco-Connect.

Ecotron – a solar pump controller, helps in remote operation of solar pumps by its intelligent monitoring system, integrated with the internet, and managed by mobile or smartphone.

“One of the biggest costs for farmers in India is to run water pumps using diesel generators. The solar water pump system is the best solution for running water pumps in remote areas where grid supply is either erratic or not available at all,” a company spokesperson told Mercom.

Similarly, Ecofrost, a solar-powered, portable cold room based on thermal energy storage, has the capacity of 5 kW of solar installation, informed the company spokesperson.

“It has the battery-less backup for nearly 24 to 30 hours,” he added.

Devendra Gupta, co-founder, and CEO of Ecozen, said, “The funding raised will enable us to expand our product range, production capacity, and enter new geographies. We will also increase the deployment of our leasing based cold chain solution and scale up Eco-Connect massively.”

Eco-Connect is a market linkage platform for farmers growing perishables, and it connects them digitally to potential buyers, including exporters, retailers, and processors.

Commenting on their investment, Vijayaraghavan Kannan, senior partner at IFA Fund, said, “Ecozen has focused on using technology as a differentiator and has pioneered innovative products addressing market imperfections and catering to underserved segments of agriculture and food value chain.”

To encourage the use of renewable energy among farmers, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched the Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan (KUSUM) program for farmers for the installation of solar pumps and grid-connected solar, and other renewable power projects in the country.

Recently, Mercom reported that the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation (RREC) invited applications from interested bidders to set up solar projects on their own or offer their land on lease under component-A of the KUSUM program.

Image credit: Ecozen