ImpactAlpha, September 6 – Omnivore, one of the first dedicated agtech investors in India, co-led Barrix Agro’s first institutional investment round in 2013. The company is now one of India’s largest providers of eco-friendly crop protection and nutrition products to smallholder farmers in India.
Omnivore has sold its stake in Barrix to Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical. It’s the third exit for the impact fund manager in the past 12 months.
Omnivore in June raised $150 million for its third fund.
Ten-year fund
Omnivore earlier this year sold its investment in farm equipment manufacturer Mitra to Indian conglomerate Mahindra. Last year it exited aquaculture software firm Eruveka to Dutch animal feed producer Nutreco. If not for the wind-down of its first fund, Omnivore would have stayed invested in all three companies for several more years, Omnivore’s Mark Kahn told ImpactAlpha. “They’re all profitable and at interesting inflection points. But we’re exiting to great buyers.”
Many companies are struggling to raise fresh venture capital, often at lower valuations. Investors that once prized growth are showing a preference for companies that are profitable or on a path to profitability. The companies Omnivore exited “are being valued based on their profitability and aren’t affected by venture capital valuation trends,” said Kahn.
