New Leaf raises Rs 6.15cr pre-Series A from Good Ventures LLC
To utilise capital for strengthening India’s cold chain infrastructure: New Leaf CEO Akash Agarwal
New Delhi-based cold chain solutions provider enterprise New Leaf Dynamic Technologies raised Rs 6.15 crore ($0.76 million) in its pre-Series A round from Dustin Moskovitz, a US-based entrepreneur-turned-investor and the Founder of Asana.
The investment has been made by Moskovitz's firm Good Ventures LLC - a for-profit investment organisation that donates all of its earnings to the Good Ventures Foundation, according to a statement from New Leaf
"Additionally, New Leaf Technologies raised seed funding and incubation support from Social Alpha and Indigram Labs Foundation. Previously, they have also received a grant of $50,000 from Villgro, CEEW and Ikea Foundation alongside a grant of $100,000 and technical assistance from Water Energy for Food (WE4F) South and Southeast Asia."
New Leaf Technologies aims to increase and strengthen its product portfolio and make its existing product offering – a biomass-powered refrigeration unit GreenCHILL - available to a greater number of channel partners, the release added. "GreenCHILL is a carbon-neutral technology that saves 40 tonnes of GHG emissions per year, equivalent to the carbon footprint of up to 20 petrol cars and advocates the use of natural refrigerants which have global warming reduction potential in alignment with the SDG7."
"We at New Leaf are delighted to raise our pre-Series A funding from Dustin Moskovitz' Good Ventures," says Akash Agarwal, Co-Founder, New Leaf Dynamic Technologies. "We will be utilising the capital raised through this round majorly to strengthen India's cold chain infrastructure — reducing post-harvest losses by replacing conventional compressor technologies with New Leaf's biomass-powered Made-in-India refrigeration technology which is affordable, sustainable and reliable. We are confident in delivering more valuable products for the agriculture sector as well as building value for our investors. We have been doubling our growth since the last two years, and now bolstered by the fundraising, we look forward to quadrupling our growth by the end of the current fiscal."
New Leaf is supporting around 15,000 farmers, and post the fundraise plans to impact the livelihoods and income of more than two lakh small and marginal farmers over the next three years, the release added.