Oct 2, 2023

Gobi Partners backs Malaysian agritech startup BoomGrow The investment is made through the Khazanah Nasional Berhad- backed Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) fund, the duo said in a statement on Monday. With this latest funding round, BoomGrow aims to expand operations across Southeast Asia. BoomGrow operates Machine Farms in Malaysia, and they are in the process of expanding. Their recent move into Manila, Philippines is a strategic response to the high population density and the growing demand for fresh, clean, and nutritious produce. Its initial grant funding came from SME Corp and venture capital funding from Big Sky Capital, an American venture capital firm as well as angel investors. “We are excited to be part of the Khazanah and Gobi family. BoomGrow is enabling access to better- quality fresh food by focusing on our ESG principles, “Our commercial-scale solutions are backed by a data-driven approach which is key to resilience and agile decision-making,” BoomGrow Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Murali Krishnamurthy said. “Ultimately, we are unlocking the future of food whilst having a transformative impact on the environment and our communities, “It’s great to see investor alignment with our vision which will enable us to execute our growth plans across Southeast Asia,” he said. Founded by a gender-diverse dynamic trio, BoomGrow strives to bring healthy, nutritious food within reach by focusing on densely populated urban areas where traditional farming is scarce and affected by long supply chains. Its co-founders, Murali Krishnamurthy, with an Accounting and Finance background; Dr. Jay Desan, an advisor with extensive experience in ESG; and Shan Palani, a designer and architect, lead this mission. Since its inception in 2015, BoomGrow has been making waves internationally with its innovative approach to growing fresh produce. They have turned repurposed shipping containers into what they call “Machine Farms” where they can be located in situ, growing pesticide-free vegetables with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. A key feature of the Machine Farm is the ability to grow close to consumers as well as serve remote areas. Modular and stackable, the Machine Farms are a model for the future of scalable, sustainable hyper-local farming. Compared to traditional outdoor farms, these farms use 95 percent less land, water and labor. This capability is pivotal in areas with limited access to fresh, clean and traceable produce, which is aligned with the company’s ultimate goal of producing vegetables throughout the entire region. BoomGrow’s Farm OS meanwhile, is a remote management platform that seamlessly integrates hardware and software. It uses machine vision and machine learning to optimize operations and performance across all farms based on data. Currently, BoomGrow can produce a wide range of leafy greens, microgreens, and herbs. They are also planning to expand into a wider range of produce like fruiting and vine crops. The company mainly supplies hotels, restaurants and grocers as well as offering additional subscription packages for direct-to-home delivery through their website. “We are at the point in history where we cannot overlook the importance of investing in the right companies that can change the world and in BoomGrow, we see just this,” Gobi Managing Partner (Malaysia) Jamaludin Bujang said. “Food security is a major issue faced by many countries as a result of climate change, rising population, and limited supply of farming areas, “Their innovative solutions are ensuring that our supply chain remains intact and healthy for generations to come,” he added. Khazanah initiated Project Semai, a nationwide research project to better understand the challenges faced by agriculture workers and smallholders to improve Malaysia’s food security. A nationwide survey was conducted, involving over 3,000 smallholders between 2022 and 2023. Climate change was identified as one of the top three challenges faced by smallholders in Malaysia. Therefore, climate-smart agrifood solutions would be critical to enable sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. GDIV is part of Khazanah’s Future Malaysia Programme (FMP), an initiative under the sovereign wealth fund’s Dana Impak (Impact Fund) mandate, with the aim to support the Malaysian start-up ecosystem. Dana Impak is a key pillar of Khazanah’s Advancing Malaysia strategy that aims to deliver socioeconomic impact for Malaysia across six themes – Digital Society and Technology, Quality Health and Education for all, Decent Work and Social Mobility, Food and Energy Security, Building Climate Resilience, and Competing in Global Markets.