Aquaculture is the fastest-growing method of food production in the world, providing a more sustainable approach to meet the rising global demand for animal protein. S2G believes the industry is experiencing a wave of innovation, and that, as the second-largest aquaculture producer worldwide, India’s aquaculture ecosystem is ideally positioned for technology-driven transformation.
Aquaculture plays a vital role in India's food security and socio-economic stability, presenting both significant opportunities and unique challenges, such as improving efficiency and scaling operations.
Despite its global prominence in aquaculture, the industry in India faces a multitude of challenges across the value chain, spanning supply chain inefficiencies, lack of transparency, and inadequate access to financing solutions. We believe these challenges hinder the industry's potential, promote unsustainable farming practices, and place the livelihoods of farmers at risk.
Reimaging Aquaculture with Technology and Connectivity
As a full-stack aquaculture technology platform, Aquaconnect is addressing these challenges head-on, helping to bring greater access, transparency, and predictability to the aquaculture value chain by leveraging artificial intelligence and geospatial technologies. The company streamlines market linkages between farmers, retailers, and seafood buyers to increase access to farm inputs, financing, and marketplace commerce. This holistic approach helps empower the ecosystem with the resources required for scalable and sustainable growth.
Aquaconnect partners with rural, entrepreneurial retailers, called Aqua Partners, who provide last-mile assistance to farmers while delivering the company’s services, including farm advisory, access to farm inputs, and post-harvest market linkage. These Aqua Partners offer products ranging from healthcare and chemical products to feed, with delivery in rural and coastal regions of India. Aquaconnect completes its full-stack platform through Aquacred, a fintech solution providing retailers and seafood buyers with access to formal credit to help meet their working capital needs and scale their businesses, creating a flywheel for the industry.
Fueling Expansion
With S2G’s investment, we believe Aquaconnect is poised to continue scaling its operations and expanding its reach across the major aquaculture production states in India with plans to double its Aqua Partner network in the next six to twelve months. The company recently expanded its footprint in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam, as it seeks to transform the Indian aquaculture landscape with a purpose-built platform to encourage sustainable growth across the ecosystem.
As we welcome Aquaconnect into our portfolio, we are excited about the company’s future and the impact it will make in the industry. We look forward to supporting Aquaconnect in its journey and encourage our readers to follow along as it continues to shape the future of aquaculture.
Image Source: Aquaconnect
