In a Seed round led by Omnivore, it has secured USD 2.2 million to benefit dairy cattle farmers by creating an ecosystem for fodder.
The startup’s proprietary silage baling process is helping to address the fodder shortage. By cutting fresh, chaffed, and securely packing nutrient-rich green fodder, silage is a preservation technique that keeps it fresh all year long.
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India has seen a slow uptake of silage since the infrastructure needed is expensive and unfavourable to small-scale dairy farmers. Compact 50 kg silage bales are produced by Cornext’s baling technology and supplied to dairy farmers by a network of village-level fodder entrepreneurs.
More than 400 fodder entrepreneurs have been started by it in India thus far, and the company has started exporting its silage baling equipment to Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
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Madhav Kshatriya and Feroz Ahmed created Cornext in 2015, with its headquarters located in Hyderabad. Between the two founders, they have over thirty years of expertise in the dairy cattle industry, specifically in logistics and management.
Cornext is currently a member of the Department of Animal Husbandry’s National Advisory Council in India. The Government of India awarded the firm the National Best firm Award in Agriculture-Allied Sectors in 2020.
Madhav, Co-founder of Cornext, said, “Cornext aims to be the go-to company for all things silage. With this round of funding, we aim to ramp up the yearly silage production to 1 million MT by 2026 and invest in R&D in baling technology. Our institutional clientele to date includes AMUL, SUMUL, BANAS, MILMA, KMF, and many other large dairies and cooperatives. We are excited to have Omnivore’s support and make a positive impact on smallholder incomes and cattle health.”
Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said, “Cornext is solving one of the most chronic problems in Indian agriculture – affordable cattle nutrition. India’s milk productivity is one of the lowest in the world, mainly due to fodder shortage. Cornext is changing this narrative, and we are keen to see Madhav and Feroz’s vision come to life.”
About Cornext
Cornext, an Indian Agri-Tech business that has won the National Startup Award, is credited with solving the issue by using a game-changing technology known as silage baling.
