Bengaluru-based dairy-tech startup Stellapps has raised $14 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and IndusAge Partners, according to news reports. Its current investors include Omnivore Capital and Flipkart executive chairman Binny Bansal.
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Earlier this month the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed $12.5 million to IIM Ahmedabad’s Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) towards the centre’s $25 million Bharat Inclusion Initiative to incubate and seed startups addressing India’s inclusion challenges through technology.
The start-up was founded in 2011 by IITians Ranjith Mukundan and Venkatesh Seshasayee in 2011 and incubated by IIT Madras. The company produces and procures comprehensive farm optimisation and monitoring support solution to help dairy farmers and cooperatives maximise profits while minimising effort.
The funds will also help Stellapps monitor the quantity and quality of milk, storage facilities, create wearable devices for tracking cattle health, and improve infrastructure for housing cattle, the report said.
“Ultimately, the focus is on reducing costs for the farmer by ensuring there are higher milk yields and consistent health of their cattle,” added the source mentioned above.
Stellapps leverages Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud, mobility, and data analytics to improve agri-supply chain parameters, including milk production, milk procurement, cold chain, animal insurance and farmer payments.
In July 2017, Stellapps had raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Blume Ventures, Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal, and Venture Highway.