The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural development (NABARD) has felicitated five agritech startups for their promising role in agriculture on the occasion of the 38th Foundation Day. The five companies that were feliciated included dairy startup, Stellapps Technologies; biotech startup, Sea6 Energy; aqua-farming startup, Eruvaka Technologies; rural e-commerce platform,  InThree (BoonBox); and packaged foods startup, KottaramAgro foods (Soulful).

Sea6 Energy is a Bengaluru-based biofuel startup founded by Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Nelson Vadassery, Sri Sailaja Nori, and Sowmya Balendiran in 2010. The company produces ethanol fuel from seaweed (particularly red seaweed) that can replace non-renewable energy sources. Seaweed or sea vegetables are forms of algae that grow in the sea. 

The company also sells agriculture biostimulant and crop protection products developed from seaweeds based on proprietary knowhow. Sea6 energy’s agri range of products aim to help farmers boost agricultural productivity in a completely safe and environmentally-friendly manner.

The company is also developing various other products like sea veg fibre (as food additive), aqua and poultry feeds etc. Its successfully commercialized biostimulant product, ‘Agrogain’, is used by more than one million farmers in India.

Kottaram Agro Foods (Soulful) is a Bengaluru-based packaged-food company founded by Prashant Parameswaran in 2011.  Kottaram Agro's products are available in the market under the brand ‘Soulfull’. It converts traditional grains such as millets into attractive breakfast and snack foods. Ragi Bites, Millet Muesli, and Smoothix are its key product lines. Dr K K Narayanan, an ABLE member, is also founder and chairman of Kottaram Agro-Foods.

Biofuel startup, Sea6 Energy, founded by ShrikumarSuryanarayan, has earned a recognition by NABARD. The other four are aqua-farming startup Eruvaka Technologies; rural e-commerce platform, InThree (BoonBox); and packaged foods startup, KottaramAgro foods (Soulful).