This Startup Is Building The OS For India’s Shrimp Economy

When four professionals with careers across Germany, the US, and Argentina returned to India more than a decade ago, aquaculture was not an industry they knew or one they were born into. 

But what they did see was a ₹35,000 Cr export industry in Andhra Pradesh running largely without formal finance, insurance, or even reliable data.

That gap is what led to the creation of AquaExchange, an agritech startup that is building a full-stack technology platform for shrimp farming which combines IoT devices, AI models, financing, insurance, and market linkages.

Founded by Pavan Kosaraju, Hemasundar Dhavili, Kareem Mohammod, and Kiran Bandi, after years of studying shrimp farms on the ground, the startup is now working across more than 71,000 acres of farms and nearly 6,000 farmers. Its larger ambition is to transform aquaculture, which is the controlled breeding, rearing, and harvesting of marine livestock (shrimps in this case) and eventually other animal-protein sectors using data infrastructure built directly on farms.

From Consultants To Shrimp Farming Tech

India’s shrimp exports are among the largest agricultural exports from the country; during 2023-24, the country exported 7.16 lakh MT of frozen shrimp worth $ 4.88 billion, making it the most significant item in the basket of seafood exports, accounting for a share of 40.19% in quantity and 66.12 % of the total dollar earnings, according to data released by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

Yet the ecosystem lacks basic visibility and even fundamental questions such as how many acres were under cultivation in a region often had no clear answers, Kosaraju told Inc42. 

“We had already spent some time on this before incorporation, but post-incorporation, it took us about a year to a year and a half to truly identify the core problem which was the lack of structured data and risk management. From there, we began building a bottom-up infrastructure,” Kosaraju told Inc42.

The approach was simple: access to authentic, high-quality data in any sector is deeply embedded in its day-to-day activities. Without that, organic data is almost impossible to capture

So, one of its earliest products from AquaExchange was Powerman, an IoT-based power monitoring system that tracks aeration motors in shrimp ponds. Continuous aeration is critical in shrimp farming; if power fails for even a few hours, farmers risk losing an entire crop. The device monitors power systems around the clock and alerts farmers via automated phone calls when disruptions occur. Today, the company says more than 20,000 devices are deployed, generating millions of alerts and operational insights.

Over time, AquaExchange expanded into automated feeding systems, water monitoring devices, and farm analytics tools, embedding itself into day-to-day farming operations. Currently, there are 15 categories of devices that AquaExchange offers to farmers for tasks like real monitoring, precision feeding, and power usage optimisation. 

Kosaraju said AquaExchange designs, develops, and manufactures its devices in-house to keep costs low and ensure suitability for small farmers. The company emphasised frugal engineering, noting that high-cost technology would not be viable in aquaculture. 

“We have a manufacturing facility near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, where rows of women colleagues assemble our products.Today, we have the capacity to manufacture about 25,000 units annually, with the flexibility to double production within three months. We operate two separate facilities in the region, one for electronics and another for mechanical devices, along with a Hyderabad-based center that handles all our software and AI development,” said Kosaraju. 

AquaExchange builds in-house models for predictive animal health monitoring, where image analysis helps detect potential diseases early, and hydrophones which are underwater sensors that capture feeding sounds to understand shrimp appetite. They also build AI agents for data collection through simple tools like WhatsApp, eliminating the need for additional apps or manual data entry. On the analytics side, AI models support everything from feed optimisation to farm planning, essentially functioning like an ERP system for aquaculture.

“One of the biggest shifts is accessibility. Earlier, only large farms could afford advanced analytics and advisory. Today, with AI, even a 2–4 acre farmer can access the same level of insights as a 1,000-acre operation,” said Kosaraju. 

AquaExchange’s farmer base is largely skewed towards smallholders, who make up nearly three-fourths of its network. Mid-sized farmers account for about 15%, while enterprise-scale operators comprise just over a tenth a mix that allows the company to balance scale with accessibility, according to Kosaraju.

Turning Farm Data Into Fintech

Once data visibility improved, AquaExchange began layering financial services on top.

“We first enabled financing by partnering with NBFCs, banks, and institutions like NABARD. Historically, aquaculture lacked reliable risk assessment, limiting access to credit. We addressed this by building proprietary platforms that provide lenders with real-time farm insights, along with a standardized farm risk scoring system. This has allowed more institutions to confidently extend loans,” said Kosaraju.

Next came insurance. Traditional products only cover weather-related risks, not disease, the biggest cause of loss in shrimp farming. Using AquaExchange’s data, insurers can now offer disease-based coverage. In the last six months, farmers have claimed over ₹2 crore for losses due to white spot syndrome.

By digitising farm data and partnering with certification bodies like Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), AquaExchange is now focusing on market linkages. Farmers get low-cost and certifications which helps them become eligible for global buyers who demand strict quality standards and traceability. 

“The result is a full-stack model: solve on-ground farming challenges, enable financing and insurance through data, and unlock market access,” noted Kosaraju. 

Agritech Trends In India

In the aquaculture segment, AquaConnect has emerged as a key competitor to AquaExchange. Similar to AquaExchange, it operates as a full-stack aquaculture platform. 

The company raised ₹33 Cr in a Pre-Series B round led by S2G Ventures in January 2024 and has secured a total of $31.6 Mn in funding across six rounds since its founding in 2017.

Beyond direct competitors, AquaExchange also operates in a broader and increasingly crowded agritech and seafood ecosystem. Horizontal agritech platforms such as DeHaat and Arya.ag compete in adjacent areas like input distribution, financing, and market access for farmers.

 Meanwhile, supply chain and seafood-focused players such as Captain Fresh, WayCool, and FreshToHome operate further downstream, focusing on procurement, processing, and export or direct-to-consumer distribution. While their models differ, these well-funded players overlap in parts of the value chain, particularly around market access and demand aggregation.

Despite agriculture being central to India’s economy and society, agritech remains a relatively nascent sector, with its first major wave of growth beginning around 2017. The sector saw peak funding activity in 2021 and 2022, raising $728 million across 49 deals and $840 million across 62 deals, respectively. However, funding momentum has since slowed.

According to Inc42’s Annual Indian Startup Trends Report 2025, agritech startups collectively raised $202 million across 36 deals last year, down nearly 25% from $269 million in 2024.

That said, investor interest is increasingly shifting toward segments such as precision agriculture and supply chain technologies, particularly those leveraging AI and IoT to address infrastructure gaps. This trend works in favour of companies like AquaExchange, as reflected in its recent fundraise and growing market traction.

What The Future Holds

In March, AquaExchange raised $8 Mn in a Series B funding round co-led by Endiya Partners and Factor Analytics, with participation from existing investor Accion Ventures. This investment is expected to help in the aforementioned goals. AquaExchange expects to clock revenue of about ₹275 Cr in FY26, with an EBITDA of about ₹9 Cr for the year. In FY25 and FY24, the company registered revenue of ₹240 Cr and ₹104 Cr, respectively. 

“At the PAT level, we expect to close this year with a small loss of around ₹3–4 Cr. However, we are on track to turn profitable in FY27, with projected profits of at least a couple of million dollars. In terms of margins, we are targeting an EBITDA of 8–10% and a PAT margin of around 3–4% next year. Our focus now is on reinvesting back into the business to drive sustained growth,” said Kosaraju, adding that the company is well-positioned to explore public markets within the next three to four years.

He noted that in most agritech companies, technology is typically treated as a customer acquisition tool, with monetisation largely driven by other verticals such as trading or financing. He emphasised that in their model the technology division is revenue-generating and plays a direct role in driving the company’s profitability. 

Notably, while financing and procurement from farmers continue to account for over 80% of overall revenue, the technology division’s contribution has grown significantly from 3% to 13% in FY26. Looking ahead, he said the target is to take this to over 25% by March 2027, with the goal of having roughly one-fourth of overall revenues coming from the technology division.

Further, future plans also involve expanding global footprint. Having established a local presence across states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat, AquaExchange is now expanding its overseas business. 

The company has entered Ecuador, the world’s largest shrimp exporter, and is working with some of the largest shrimp farms globally. It has also launched operations in Saudi Arabia and Madagascar.

The long-term vision extends beyond shrimp. The company believes the same model technology embedded in farms, combined with data-driven finance and supply chains can be replicated across fish, poultry, and dairy, potentially building digital infrastructure for the broader animal-protein economy.

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