Novo Holdings backs Indian food tech firm to propel AI-based quality analysis

26 Jun 2024 --- Life sciences financier Novo Holdings has invested in Indian agritech company AgNext Technologies, a provider of artificial intelligence-based food quality assessment technologies that aims to enhance sustainable agricultural food chains. 

The deal marks Novo Holdings’ first Asia investment in the planetary health sector and is in line with its broader strategic goal of making investments that drive the “green transition” — to feed a growing world population, fight climate change and create sustainable cities.

“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,” says Navjeewan Khosla, partner at Novo Holdings Asia.

“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.”

The cash injection will further help AgNext develop technologies for food quality analysis and build a team that will scale its product sales internationally and into new food segments.

Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

Propelling food quality evaluation 
AgNext Technologies was founded in 2016 and operates in India and Abu Dhabi, UAE. The company works on advancing, scaling and commercializing an integrated platform for rapid, precise, cost-effective and portable food quality evaluations for stakeholders across the agricultural value chain.

AgNext's integrated platform allows rapid and precise food quality evaluations for spices, grains and oilseeds.“We have been focused on digitizing food chains enabling greater transparency and profitability for stakeholders,” notes Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, founder and CEO of AgNext Technologies.

Novo Holdings’ “global outlook and deep sector expertise” will help AgNext consolidate and integrate the best technologies for building the next generation in global food chains, he adds.

Digitizing for transparency
Digitizing quality assessment will help the company ensure transparency in food transactions from origination to consumption, details AgNext. 

The company has built scalable models that provide fair pricing in food chains, the usage of unadulterated crop inputs, quality-assessed procurement for businesses and the consumption of safe unadulterated food across food chains. These include grains, pulses, oilseeds, spices and herbs. 

AgNext’s solutions also significantly enhance efficiency and profitability within the food ecosystem.

Business moves
Novo Holdings is wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk and enzyme manufacturer Novonesis (Novozymes).

The company had total assets worth €149 billion (US$159.4 billion) and reported total income and investment returns of €4.2 billion (US$4.5 billion) last year, following the merger with Chr. Hansen, worth €2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion).

The company has also previously invested in F&B businesses like The Protein Brewery, Chromologics and Elo Life Systems to propel alternative protein, food color and plant-based sweetener innovations.