For the second time in less than 18 months, Sistema_VC, one of the venture investment vehicles of Russian conglomerate Sistema, has backed UK agrotech startup KisanHub. The latest round, announced last week, provided £1.12 million ($1.49 million) to the Cambridge-headquartered startup.
The round was led by Low Carbon Innovation Fund II (LCIF2) with co-investment matching coming from the UK government’s Future Fund. Sistema_VC – which had led the July 2019 round – is following on this time with an undisclosed amount.
Other historic investors IQ Capital and Notion Capital also took part in the round.
KisanHub helps global food and beverage companies “manage their supply chains efficiently by connecting directly with their farmers to collect information and by revealing supply-chain insights.”
In an exchange with AFN, KisanHub co-founder and CEO Sachin Shende said the latest round of funding will help his company “expand its business in the UK and continental Europe, with an initial focus on fresh produce markets.”
Commenting on the fundraising process, Shende said: “Covid-19 did slow down the discussions, but the Future Fund initiative has been put in place by the UK government to tackle this kind of uncertainty in the funding market, and this helped us to close the round quickly.”
Sistema_VC is among the most internationally-active venture funds based in Moscow. Its portfolio includes several UK startups, including DataSine, MEL Science and SenSat. Another corporate fund of Sistema, Sistema Asia Capital, is dedicated to investment in Indian tech startups.
