Nutreco buys Indian aquatech Eruvaka for $40m-$50m in exit for Omnivore

Eruvaka Technologies, an aquaculture tech company, has achieved an exit for its founders, team and primary investor Omnivore after existing investor Nutreco acquired a 93.7% stake in the company this week. Indian impact fund Omnivore said the exit — which a source close to the deal indicated was worth between $40 million and $50 million — is the largest recorded in Indian agritech.

• Nutreco, a Netherlands-based animal and fish feed producer, first invested in Eruvaka in 2018.
• Omnivore first invested in late 2013 when Eruvaka was worth just a few million dollars, according to sources. It ultimately owned just under half of the company. Eruvaka was its first aquaculture deal.
• By 2023, Nutreco wants to fully acquire the company.

Aquaculture has been touted as the fastest growing protein-producing industry worth $232 billion in 2016 and set to add another $100 billion by 2026, according to Rabobank research. This growth of course comes with the demand for feed and management solutions. 

Eruvaka Technologies was founded in 2012 by Sreeram Raavi, an electronics engineer, to help aquaculture farmers mitigate risk and increase their productivity rates. 

The Indian startup manufactures automation and remote monitoring equipment for the aquaculture industry. Its products can be found in 12 countries and include automatic feeding solutions and cloud-based monitoring and management equipment and software. Raavi claims that its predictions and warnings are usually 75% correct. One of Eruvaka’s products is Shrimp Talk, an intelligent feeding system.

Nutreco has already been working closely with Eruvaka via its aquaculture division, Skretting, since 2018. Skretting has been selling Eruvaka tools to shrimp farmers as part of its Skretting 360+ precision farming package, which incorporates precision nutrition, farm management practices and proactive technical support, all delivered via the Skretting AquaSim app to help shrimp farmers improve their productivity and lower costs by 26%, according to Nutreco.

Just last year, Skretting invested in a shrimp research facility in Ecuador after setting up a feed manufacturing plant in the same location. 

By the numbers

Eruvaka has 200 members and a team of 120.

According to reports, Eruvaka has been profitable since 2019, posting 168.5% compounded annual revenue growth since 2018.

Nutreco initially acquired a 25% stake in Eruvaka, a move meant to help the Indian startup scale globally. 

With Omnivore’s exit, Nutreco now holds a 93.7% stake in Eruvaka.

What they’re saying

“Our [mission] of ‘Feeding the Future’ drives us to invest in innovative technologies that improve the sustainability of our food supply chain. This investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting aquaculture farmers in incorporating smart solutions that make their business more productive and efficient,” said Nutreco CEO Fulco van Lede in a statement.

Van Lede also pointed out that Omnivore’s belief and investment in the company, just a year after it was founded, was instrumental to Eruvaka’s growth. 

“Eruvaka is an amazing example of Make in India, delivering cutting-edge agritech solutions to aquaculture farmers globally. With Nutreco acquiring Eruvaka, the Indian agritech ecosystem has seen its first large exit, and many more will follow in the coming years. This is a very proud moment for Omnivore, for Eruvaka,  and for agritech in India,” said Mark Kahn, managing partner at Omnivore. 

Additional reporting by Louisa Burwood-Taylor