IIT-Kanpur grad makes bold $7M bet: Invests in agri-tech startup using 95% less water to grow vegetables

Have we ever paused in our busy day-to-day lives to think about the farms in India, standing at crossroads? The soil health is deteriorating, climate uncertainty is making harvests harder to predict and adding to the distress, and the water tables are also sinking. With food prices on a sharp rise and arable land shrinking dramatically, the bigger question is not whether agriculture should change, but how fast it can adapt. It is within this urgent shift toward sustainable farming that an IIT-Kanpur graduate placed what he calls his boldest bet yet, backing a startup determined to transform India’s agricultural future.

Stark wake-up call becomes high-conviction agritech bet

Harsh Pokharna, Cofounder and CEO at OkCredit, shared a rather interesting story on Instagram, taking us back to the year 2021. The IITian revealed that during that period, he chose to support a relatively lesser-known agritech startup, Eeki, a decision he now describes as potentially his most disruptive investment so far. What moved him was not just the founders’ pedigree as IIT Bombay graduates. It was their conscious decision to stay in India and tackle agriculture, one of the country’s toughest and most neglected challenges, that inspired Harsh.

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During the early conversations, Harsh Pokharna and the IIT Bombay graduates laid out a grounding reality. They realised that practising conventional farming could mean cutting down 20% more forests to meet food demand, at a time when about 30% of the soil is already degraded, with water scarcity worsening more than ever. Doubling the risk factors were climate volatility and soaring vegetable prices.

Reimagining farming, one mist at a time

What Harsh Pokharna and his team did next was worth applauding. Through Eeki, they built a patented aeroponic system where crops were cultivated without soil, and roots received nutrients through a fine mist. The result? 95% less water usage, controlled climate, and scalable farming even in extreme conditions like the dry and arid regions of Rajasthan, where they now operate over 100 acres.

For Harsh Pokharna, the initiative wasn’t only about profit. It was more about backing a mission with national impact. The recent $7 million funding round led by prominent investors validated the model. In conclusion, the CEO reinforces this ideology: if sustainable innovation in agriculture succeeds at scale, it won’t just create a valuable company, it could secure the food future in India.