Novo Holdings announces investment in AgNext Technologies, an agricultural and food technology company developing AI-based solutions for more sustainable agriculture
SINGAPORE, June 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Holdings today announced that it has led an investment in AgNext Technologies Private Limited, a breakthrough agricultural and food technology company enhancing trust along the food chains by innovating artificial intelligence-based food quality assessment technologies.
Founded in 2016 with operations in India and Abu Dhabi, UAE, AgNext Technologies is committed to advancing, scaling, and commercialising an integrated platform for rapid, precise, cost-effective and portable food quality evaluations, benefiting all stakeholders across the agricultural value chain.
By digitising quality assessment, the company is establishing benchmarks for ensuring transparency in food transactions from origination to consumption. The company has built scalable models providing fair pricing in food chains, usage of unadulterated crop inputs, quality-assessed procurement for businesses and consumption of safe unadulterated food across food chains notably in grains, pulses, oilseeds, spices and herbs. AgNext's solutions also significantly enhance efficiency and profitability within the food ecosystem.
This latest funding round will support the company's efforts to further develop technologies for food quality assessments and enable the building of a team that will scale its product sales internationally and into new food segments.
The deal also marks the first Asia investment in the planetary health sector for Novo Holdings, supporting its broader strategic goal of making investments that address planetary health and drive the green transition – to feed a growing world population, fight climate change and create sustainable cities.
Dr Amit Kakar, Managing Partner and Head, Novo Holdings Asia, said:
"This investment presents an exciting opportunity for Novo Holdings to collaborate with AgNext's management team in markets with unmet needs, prioritising both organic and inorganic growth in the food and agritech space in the near and long term. With an innovative technology offering, AgNext is poised to capture opportunities to grow its business across various sectors and regions. Further, the company's focus on unique and customised solutions aligns well with our vision of supporting transformative technologies in the bioindustrial and planetary health sector."
Navjeewan Khosla, Partner, Novo Holdings Asia, added:
"The food quality testing industry in India is driven by solid growth in the broader agricultural industry as well as a growing focus on quality control. With our investment in AgNext, we look forward to working closely with the company on its growth journey, leveraging our expertise and network to drive innovation and sustainable impact in the agritech space."
Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, Founder and CEO, AgNext Technologies, said:
"We at AgNext have been focused on digitising food chains enabling greater transparency and profitability for stakeholders. We are delighted to welcome Novo Holdings as an investor. Their global outlook and deep sector expertise will be valuable in supporting our mission of consolidating and integrating the best technologies for building the next generation in global food chains."
Deepa Hingorani, Partner, Planetary Health Investments, Novo Holdings Asia, concluded:
"Asia offers compelling opportunities for Novo Holdings to scale up its investments in infrastructure within bioindustrials and planetary health. By investing in these areas, we aim to support our companies in their growth and ambitions to make an impact on people and planet."
About Novo Holdings A/S
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis A/S (Novozymes A/S) and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seed, Venture, Growth, Asia, Bioindustrial and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development. As of year-end 2023, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 149 billion. www.novoholdings.dk
About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation's mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.
About AgNext Technologies
AgNext Technologies is an agritech company dedicated to revolutionizing food quality assessment along the agricultural value chain. Through its integrated platform for rapid, precise, and cost-effective portable food quality evaluations, AgNext is empowering stakeholders to make informed decisions that drive sustainability and efficiency within the agricultural ecosystem.
SOURCE Novo Holdings
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