New Delhi, March 3 -- Mid-market private equity firm Zephyr Peacock India, the local arm of New York-based emerging markets investment firm Zephyr Management, has invested in agriculture services company Unnati Agri.
Unnati, operated by Akshamaala Solutions Pvt. Ltd, secured the fresh capital as part of its Series B round, the companies said in a joint statement. They didn't disclose any financial terms of the transaction.
The announcement comes just days after VCCircle exclusively reported that Zephyr Peacock India was in advanced stages to invest in Unnati and that the agritech firm could raise Rs 15-20 crore in a primary transaction.
FundTQ and Grant Thornton Bharat advised on the fundraising, while IC Universal Legal, Advocates & Solicitors conducted legal due diligence.
It remains unclear whether Zephyr will invest from its third fund or its fourth vehicle. VCCircle reported last year that the firm aimed to complete deployment from its third fund by September 2024 and make a first close of the new fund at around $100 million by the end of 2024. However, it hasn't made any announcement about the fourth fund thus far.
The planned investment comes at a time when Unnati is likely holding merger discussions with agricultural-technology platform Gramophone, which is backed by publicly listed Info Edge (India) Ltd, the Chona Family Office of Havmor Group, private equity firm Z3Partners, and venture capital firm Siana Capital, VCCircle reported earlier.
Unnati, set up in 2017 by former Paytm chief financial officer Amit Sinha and his co-founder Ashok Prasad, is a fintech-based platform that offers banking services to farmers. The New Delhi-based company received angel funding from investors such as Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, current and former Paytm executives including Vikas Garg, Shankar Nath and Renu Satti, and Tata Industries executive director KRS Jamwal.
Unnati raised Rs 60 crore in a Series A funding round led by the government-backed venture growth fund Nabventures Fund in 2021. Orios Venture Partners and Incofin Investment Management also participated in the round. It also raised pre-Series B funding in 2023 from the family office of IPL Biologicals and existing investors.
Zephyr Peacock India has assets under management of $225 million across its three funds. Some of its notable investments include MPower Financing, 20Cube Logistics, logistics platform Ripplr, agri-tech firm Aqgromalin, lithium-ion battery recycler BatX, online wholesale marketplace Poshn, telecom services provider Metro, supply chain solutions provider ZippMat and ready-to-cook food brand Fingerlix.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.