Agritech startup Intello Labs raises $5.9 mn Series A led by Saama Capital

Bengaluru: Agritech startup Intello Labs has raised $5.9 million in Series A round led by early stage investor Saama Capital, along with global agritech funds GROW (Singapore) and SVG Ventures THRIVE (US). Existing investors Omnivore and Nexus Venture Partners also participated in this round.

Gurugram-based Intello Labs has developed digital products that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including computer vision and deep learning, to monitor the quality of and to grade fruits and vegetables.

The company was founded in 2016 by Milan Sharma, Nishant Mishra, Himani Shah and Devendra Chandani. In March, 2019, Intello Labs raised $2 million in a seed round, from Nexus Venture Partners and Omnivore.

Intello Labs said the company is also pursuing opportunities in global markets such as China, Southeast Asia, and the US. Its clients include Reliance Fresh, Dole, Ocean Spray, and leading e-grocery companies in China and Southeast Asia.

"This funding will help us accelerate growth in international markets, specifically the US and across Asia Pacific. There has been a significant spike in interest from these markets over the past few months, which was further accelerated by covid-19, and now we have the firepower to go after these opportunities," said Milan Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Intello Labs.

"There is a rapid and growing need for better and faster quality assessment of fresh produce across the value chain, to improve the end consumers’ experience and to minimize the already high losses through wastage. Intello’s scalable and non-destructive AI-based digital suite of solutions is well placed to become an industry standard tool especially for the large buyers of and traders in fresh produce," said Kiranbir Nag, Partner at Saama Capital.