ABB Technology Invests in Food Startup Stellapps Tech

ABB venture capital unit ABB Technology Ventures has agreed to invest in Bangalore-based food startup Stellapps Technologies.

However, the company did not disclose the quantum of investment in the startup.

The series B investment round was led by IndusAge Partners and included new investors Qualcomm Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (through its programme-related investment team in London), the statement said.

However, a published media report claimed that the Stella Tech has raised $14 million from this investment. This is one of the largest equity funding rounds led by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and IndusAge Partners, among others. 

Stellapps is the country's first end-to-end dairy supply chain solutions company, used by over 750,000 farmers daily. Founded in 2011, the Bangalore-based startup is building automated tools leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics to improve milk production and quality for the country's dairy farms.

"Since meeting Stellapps, we've been impressed with their category-defining software and the large market opportunity ahead of them," said Grant Allen, Managing Director at ABB Technology Ventures in the statement.

In addition to the equity investment, Stellapps has separately initiated a strategic collaboration with ABB to create a digital offering for Indian customers to address operational challenges.

"Stellapps is entering a stage of accelerating growth, and this strategic group of investment partners will be very valuable to scale our technology platform. We are excited to partner with ABB Technology Ventures and tap into ABB's expertise and global reach for industrial automation solutions, particularly for food & beverage," its CEO Ranjith Mukundan said.