Elevate Foods has announced a notable achievement today, securing $525,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by climate-focused investors Wavemaker Impact (WMi) based in Singapore.
Positioning itself as South Asia’s pioneer startup dedicated to uplifting Indian farm-gate processors and facilitating their entry into global markets, Elevate Foods marks this investment as a significant stride towards its overarching mission. Gayatri Bhatia, CEO, and Founder of Elevate Foods, emphasized, “This investment marks a significant step towards our mission of empowering Indian farm-gate processors to bring our produce to the world while fostering a more sustainable and resilient food ecosystem.”
With India boasting a dynamic agricultural landscape housing over 2.5 million small-scale farm-gate processors, Elevate Foods recognizes a prevalent challenge among these processors in accessing international markets due to resource constraints and stringent overseas quality standards.
In alignment with the government’s efforts to bolster processed food exports, Elevate Foods endeavors to bridge this gap. By enabling Indian processors to tap into the vast potential of global markets, the startup aims to not only empower these processors but also contribute to addressing the global issue of food loss and waste.
Highlighting the magnitude of food loss, estimated at one-third of all food produced globally annually, resulting in economic losses amounting to a staggering US$1 trillion, Elevate Foods underscores the importance of addressing food loss at its source.
Central to its strategy is an innovative approach that intervenes at the source of the produce. Elevate Foods advocates for farm-gate food processing to enhance sustainability, minimize waste, and equip processors with the necessary tools and support to meet international quality standards.
Quentin Vaquette, Founding Partner at Wavemaker Impact, commended Elevate Foods’ creative approach, emphasizing its potential to tackle the trillion-dollar food waste issue. He stated, “We see immense potential in Elevate Foods’ creative approach, which focuses on uplifting Indian farm-gate processors to tackle the trillion-dollar food waste issue. Today, this issue is the source of more than 4.5 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Equivalent (GtCO2e).”
By aligning profit with purpose and addressing the challenges faced by processors, Elevate Foods is poised to unlock new opportunities and drive meaningful change in both the agricultural and food processing sectors.
