Venture capital (VC) fund Inflexor Ventures led a pre-series A funding of Rs 9 crore in agriculture biotech start-up BioPrime Agrisolutions.

The funding round also saw participation from BioPrime’s existing investor, Omnivore.

The start-up aims to utilise the funds for SNIPR Biologicals registrations, advancing the discovery platform, building a strong IP portfolio, and increasing production capabilities.

BioPrime – founded by Renuka Karandikar, Amit Shinde and Shekhar Bhosle in 2016 – develops affordable agri-biologicals that improve crop resistance to insects/pests and help crops manage abiotic stress such as high temperature, excessive water, drought, etc.

These products are non-chemical based, residue-free, organic, and are less expensive than chemical-based fertilisers and pesticides – thereby reducing the overall farm input expenses, claims Pune-based BioPrime.

“BioPrime works to transform the way we grow crops, making food more nutritious and residue-free while restoring soil health using cutting-edge technologies and approaches, always keeping sustainability at our core,” Karandikar, CEO of BioPrime Agrisolutions, said.

The IP-led, high-throughput biomolecule discovery platform will facilitate faster market access. Such a technology platform fits well with Inflexor’s investing thesis of backing impactful, pure science companies from the Indian deep tech ecosystem,” said Pratip Mazumdar, Partner at Inflexor Ventures.

Inflexor has invested in 10 companies so far since November 2020 including Atomberg, GramCover and Kale Logistics.

“BioPrime is an excellent example of an invention designed to improve human and planetary health alongside farmer incomes and we are delighted to back them," Jinesh Shah, Partner at Omnivore Partners said.