Harvesting success

• 500-backed agritech startup FarMart has raised US$2.4 million in a pre-series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India and Avaana Capital. The startup plans to use the funds raised for product development, user base expansion, and scaling its market linkage capabilities.
• FarMart helps farmers digitize their workflow and grow their businesses by offering agri-marketing services. It also links businesses directly to farmers so that high quality produce can be sourced at reasonable prices without involving multiple intermediaries.
• “With this funding round, we seek to further our mission to become the largest online platform connecting food businesses with over 10 million farmers through our nationwide retailer network by 2025,” shared Alekh Sanghera, CEO and co-founder of the startup.
• According to the startup, it has 10,000 retailers on its platform so far and has access to over 400,000 farmers across 15 states in India.
• Read the full story on The Economic Times here.

Delivering empowerment

• 500-backed logistics startup Haulio announced a partnership with Funding Societies, a digital financing platform for small to medium enterprises (SMEs).
• Under this partnership, Funding Societies’ pre-approved credit facilities are now available on Haulio’s digital platform. This allows Haulio’s partners to access early payment services in as quick as 7 days, in comparison to the industry standard of 30 days and more.
• According to Haulio, this fintech-haulage collaboration is the first of its kind. It aims to benefit more than 90% of hauliers in Singapore within Haulio’s network.
• “We hope that through this partnership with Funding Societies, our hauliers will enjoy improved cash flow and greater flexibility in managing their operations…as well as set the stage for us to scale this value-added service to our fast-growing expansion markets regionally,” said Alvin Ea, co-founder and CEO of Haulio.
• Read the full announcement on Haulio here.

Beefing up the industry

• 500-backed supply chain intelligence provider Escavox published a report in collaboration with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), revealing that temperature control during transport can extend the shelf-life of red meat and save exporters thousands in claims.
• The report’s findings come from tracking 1,000 cartons of red meat in worldwide supply chain journeys. Escavox tracked shipments using its ‘Blue Box’ trackers, hardware that is deployed with the food to continuously capture live temperature, time, and location data which is automatically uploaded in real-time.
• Co-founder Darryl Lyons said increasing shelf-life in exports of Australian beef and lamb had the potential to save the industry millions of dollars in reduced waste and lost value.
• Read the full report here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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