PeelON, a bio-tech startup, has raised $1 million in a seed funding round led by growX Ventures, a deep-tech-focused VC firm. The round also saw participation from Boston Venture Group and Clean Energy Venture Group.
The fresh funds raised will be used to expand its R&D and production facilities in Visakhapatnam, hire across sales (USA and India), R&D, and regulatory compliance and launch marketing campaigns.
Founded in 2020 by Taraka Ramji Moturu and Venkata Ravi Sankar Ummidi, PeelON develops plant-based films that extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to 3x. Operating on a business-to-business model, the startup works with farmers, exporters, and retailers to reduce the dependence on single-use plastics in the fresh produce supply chain.
It offers two flagship products, engineered to address the respective pain points of bulk shipments and retail products. While its first product, PeelON-Fresh, offers liners for bulk shipments, its second product, PeelON-Retail+, offers retail-ready bags with natural antimicrobial agents and ethylene scavengers to maintain freshness and reduce food spoilage.
PeelON’s solutions are being commercially deployed across crops such as cilantro, broccoli, leafy greens, rambutan, and banana, with clients in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in India, as well as in Texas, Florida, and California in the US.
PeelON is also collaborating with universities and compostable material labs in India and the US to expand its product applications.
PeelON plans to increase capacity in India and the US, enter new markets in Mexico and Southeast Asia, and introduce blockchain-enabled traceability for carbon and shelf-life validation.
Taraka Ramji Moturu, Founder and CEO, PeelON, said, “We are primarily working in the US-Mexico corridor and the Indian market, which are our two major markets. We are currently moving from the pilot stage to commercial orders, with about 60% of our business coming from the US-Mexico corridor and 40% from India.”
He adds, “We use plant-based additives that are encapsulated and integrated into the packaging itself, making it easy to plug and play into the supply chain. Once the produce is packed, the additives are released, helping delay ripening, maintain freshness, and prevent bacterial or fungal infections, which are common in the produce industry. Specifically, in produce, just considering exporters and importers from the US-Mexico corridor, the market size is over $1 billion. In India, it includes both domestic and export markets, which have been growing steadily, with the country pushing exports significantly.”
Manish Gupta, general partner at GrowX Ventures, said, “PeelOn is tackling one of the most urgent, overlooked challenges in global fresh produce supply chains—plastic waste and perishability. What excites us is not just their novel material science, but the clear commercial validation from exporters across India and the US.”
