KOCHI: Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (Pvt) Ltd, (LEAF), fresh produce supply chain major, has raised Series-B equity capital from Denmark-based BESTSELLER Foundation, a global foundation and United States-based venture capital fund, Unitus Impact. The financial details of the transaction have not been discloded.

With this fresh round of equity investment, LEAF will channel funds to expand its footprint deeper across South India and engage within a significant larger number of horticulture belts. By extensively re-engineering the fresh produce value chain, LEAF has developed a high quality fresh produce brand in India, empowering farmers, retailers and consumers.

In 2013, LEAF raised its Series-A funding from the Aspada Investment Company, backed by the Soros Economic Development Fund, which is one of the pioneers of early stage agriculture investments in India. Headquartered in Ooty, LEAF works extensively with more than 3,000 farmers across South India and is envisaging increasing its scope of operations to engage with more than 10,000 farmers over the next few years.

“We walk with small land-hold farmers in the entire life-cycle of the harvest and also bring in beneficial forward market-linkages through our brand LEAF. It is an honour that BESTSELLER Foundation and Unitus Impact have chosen to partner us in this journey,” said Palat Vijayaraghavan, Founder & CEO, Lawrencedale Agro Processing.

LEAF on an average handles more than 7,000 tonnes fresh produce annually and works with more than 300 retail stores across South India including marquee retail chains such as Spar Hypermarket, Star Bazaar, Aditya Birla More, Future Group, Godrej Nature’s Basket among others.

Kristian Sloth Petersen, managing director, BESTSELLER Foundation said: “More than 80% of farmers in India hold less than 2-hectares of land and given the fact that LEAF works extensively with them for livelihood improvement, the investment fits perfectly with our philosophy of working to improve sustainable agriculture value chains.”