India has historically been at the forefront of global agricultural productivity, given the vast agro-ecological diversity the country has been blessed with. 

According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, India is the largest producer of milk, jute and pulses and the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, groundnuts and fruit and vegetables.

While agriculture came to India thousands of years ago, it was the Green Revolution led by agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan that supercharged the country’s farm sector.

Today, with the emergence of the agritech space, India is standing on the cusp of a fourth revolution. Imperative to mention that the country’s agritech ecosystem is a juggernaut in the making. Having embraced IoT-enabled agricultural practices to now AI-enabled machines and tech, this burgeoning sector is writing the next chapter of the country’s farm story.

As tech penetration continues to rise through one of the world’s largest agricultural industries, Indian agritech startups are sitting on multi-billion-dollar opportunities. In fact, according to an EY report, India’s agritech startups are looking at a total market opportunity worth $24 Bn by 2025. And this potential is also being recognised by Indian and global investors, as these startups have secured more than $2.4 Bn since 2014, as per Inc42’s analysis.

The fourth agricultural revolution is at India’s doorstep, ready to disrupt the world’s food basket. With that said, we have compiled a list of some of India’s noteworthy agritech startups, showcasing the innovative strides they are making in transforming the agricultural landscape.

(Note: We have listed Indian agritech startups in alphabetical order. The list is not meant to be a ranking of any kind and will be updated from time to time.)

Agritech Startups In India

1. AgroStar

Founded by Shardul Sheth and Sitanshu Sheth in 2013, AgroStar offers an app and interactive voice response-based agriculture solutions to farmers. 

The startup has built a multilingual content-led commerce platform for farmers, who can use its mobile application to read and watch agronomy content, post pictures of their crop problems to get advice, interact with fellow farmers and use voice search to look for agri products and transact on the platform. 

It claims to be India’s largest digital farmer network and agri-inputs platform, which serves over 5 Mn farmers across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. 

Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $111 Mn from a host of investors, including Aavishkaar Bharat Fund, Accel India, and Bertelsmann, among others. The Pune-based startup’s net loss zoomed 89% to INR 141.7 Cr in FY22 from INR 74.8 Cr in the previous fiscal year despite a rise in its top line.

2. BigHaat

Founded by Raj Kancham, Sachin Nandwana and Sateesh Nukala in 2015, BigHaat is a farmer-centric digital marketplace, which offers technical guidance and accessibility to a wide range of high-quality inputs to farmers.

It is a full-stack data-based platform, which sources data through 7-8 channels to monitor consumer behaviour, sales patterns and cropping patterns. The data helps BigHaat analyse and predict how much produce will be generated by a particular farmer and how it will be affected by other external factors such as pests and weather patterns. 

The startup, which counts JM Financial, Ankur Capital and BlackSoil as its investors, claims to have onboarded more than 4 Mn farmers. The startup has so far secured more than $13.4 Mn in total funding.

3. BharatAgri

India’s agricultural revolution has employed more scientific methodologies to boost crop yields, yet smaller farmers often struggle to access agritech innovations.

To address this issue, Siddharth Dialani and Sai Gole launched the ecommerce platform BharatAgri in 2017. The startup provides AI-based agronomy services designed to help farmers achieve higher yields.

BharatAgri’s ecommerce portfolio includes over 1 Lakh agricultural products, such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, insecticides, and farming equipment. These products are delivered across more than 20,000 pin codes in India, aiding farmers in increasing their incomes through systematic scientific farming techniques.

In October 2023, BharatAgri raised $4.3 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Arkam Ventures, with participation from Capria Ventures and existing investors such as India Quotient, 021 Capital, and Omnivore.

4. CropIn

CropIn is a SaaS-based agritech platform, which helps farm-to-fork businesses digitise their operations and improve their decision-making process by providing real-time data and insights. 

Founded by Krishna Kumar and Kunal Prasad in 2010, CropIn claims to have partnered with over 250 organisations across the globe, helped them digitise more than 16 Mn acres of farms and impacted the livelihood of nearly 7 Mn farmers, according to its website.

The startup helps farmers with advisories and suggests best practices for using water efficiently, including the kind of seeds that should be used. 

Cropin also helps predict weather patterns and build early warning systems to warn farmers about factors such as fluctuations in the cost of fertilisers and complaints of infestations.

In 2018, the Karnataka government partnered with CropIn to start a programme to help farmers create more value for their crops and foster their socio-economic development. 

5. DeHaat

Founded by Shashank Kumar in 2012, DeHaat offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high-quality agri inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling their produce.

The startup claims that since inception, it has served over 2 Mn farmers across 11 states in India through its digital network of over 11,000 ‘DeHaat Centres’. 

The startup boasts a network of over 1,500 stock-keeping units and delivers more than 15,000 orders per day to more than 15 countries. So far, DeHaat has secured more than $270 Mn in total funding from Peak XV Partners, Sofina Ventures and other investors. Recently, the startup acquired the fruit export business of Freshtrop Fruits in an all-cash deal.  

6. Eeki Foods 

Founded by IIT Bombay graduates Abhay Singh and Amit Kumar in 2018, Eeki Foods aims to make farming sustainable and climate-proof with the use of its growing chambers. These chambers provide plants with the ideal conditions to grow. 

The startup makes use of its homegrown technology, which controls the farm’s climate, allowing vegetables to be grown all year without being affected by seasonal variations. 

According to the startup, this technology helps in ensuring that the nutrient solutions deployed to the roots of the plants are continuously recirculated till all the water has been used up. Eeki claims that this allows crops to grow with 80% less water compared to traditional methods. 

The agritech startup is backed by names such as Avaana Capital, Better Capital and Icebreaker VC. The company secured $6.5 Mn last year, to scale across hundreds of acres, expand its team, and invest in technology.

7. Ergos

Established in 2012 by Kishor Kumar Jha and Praveen Kumar, Ergos offers farmers a nine-month storage service for their harvest. Moreover, the platform provides credit for up to 70% of the stored grains.

It connects farmers to potential buyers, provides secure warehouse storage for grains and facilitates affordable financial solutions via partnering lenders. According to the startup, this approach helps farmers to transform their produce into digital assets that can be traded. 

At present, the startup claims to be aiding over 1.6 Lakh farmers through its platform, boasting a vast Grainbank network of warehouses in over 200 locations across Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra. It also claims to have assisted farmers in boosting their annual income by 30-35% over the years.

According to Inc42’s findings, the startup has secured more than $23 Mn in four rounds. It counts Aavishkaar Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Trifecta Venture Debt Fund and Abler Nordic as its investors.

In September last year, the startup secured $10 Mn through a mix of equity and debt in its Series B funding round led by Abler Nordic. 

8. FarMart

Launched by Alekh Sanghera and Mehtab Singh Hans in 2016, Farmart operates as a micro SaaS-led agritech platform, which helps large food businesses source quality produce by using its network of agri-retailers.

It makes use of tech and data to source at scale and uses under-utilised assets in the food value chain to build a high-growth and contribution margin profitable business. 

Since its inception, the startup has raised more than $44 Mn. It counts Omidyar Network India, Avaana Capital, 500 Startups and Matrix Partners India as its investors. 

The startup’s output linkage offerings, disseminated through its app users, now extend to over 600 districts. 

The startup also has a mobile application, SaudaBook, which aims to facilitate the digitisation of the entire workflow for food processors. 

9. Farmtheory

Established in 2019 by Arpit Agarwal and Sakshi Agarwal, Farmtheory is an innovative agri-waste management startup committed to mitigating waste at its source, empowering farmers to enhance their income, mitigate food loss, and combat climate change.

With a dual focus on elevating farm yields and delivering premium ingredients to commercial kitchens, Farmtheory has successfully onboarded over 3,000 partner farmers and served more than 1,500 kitchens to date.

Looking ahead, the company aims to expand its partner network and geographical reach, extending the benefits of its pioneering model to numerous farmer communities nationwide.

Recently, Farmtheory secured seed funding of $1.45 Mn (around INR 12 Cr) from Merak Ventures. The startup said that the funds would be deployed to scale up its operations, expand its supply arm, and enhance its tech infrastructure. It also plans to reach out to more farmers, ensuring a robust and sustainable source of produce.

10. Fasal

Established in 2018 by Shailendra Tiwari and Ananda Verma, Fasal operates as a precision horticulture platform. It facilitates resource optimisation (water, pesticides, etc.) and enhances farm productivity, all while ensuring the procurement of high-quality, traceable produce. 

The agritech startup orchestrates an end-to-end optimised value chain by leveraging AI, crop sciences, and IoT to offer farm-level, crop-specific, and crop-stage-specific intelligence.

Fasal has secured more than $17 Mn in total funding to date and counts ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Navam Capital, 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners and Genting Ventures as its investors.  

Last month, the startup secured $12 Mn funding in a Series A funding round led by TDK Ventures and British International. The company plans to use the proceeds to scale its B2B brand Fasal Fresh and expand its India and Southeast Asia operations.

It also aims to invest money in developing its proprietary farm IoT-crop intelligence technology and developing a carbon-negative horticulture value chain.

11. Fyllo

While farming has traditionally been a labour-intensive endeavour, advancements in new equipment have been making farmers’ lives easier. However, a significant challenge remains — the lack of proper education on using these machines, leaving farmers uncertain about their precise application.

To address this issue, Sudhanshu Rai and Sumit Sheoran founded Fyllo in 2019. This Bengaluru-based company provides both software and hardware products designed to assist farmers with precision farming solutions.

Fyllo’s hardware solutions, Nero and Kairo, are installed on farms to collect data on soil, climate, and crop canopy, which is then sent to the Fyllo server. Utilising this data, the company’s software products deliver live farm data, irrigation and fertiliser scheduling, disease and pest predictions, and weather forecasts.

Since its inception, Fyllo has raised $6 Mn in funding and claims to support over 8,000 farmers, boosting their income by 30%. In its B2B business vertical, the company’s clientele includes notable names such as Dhanuka, Iffco Kisan, Euro Fruits, and Mahindra Agri Solutions, among others.

12. Gramophone

Founded in 2016 by Tauseef Khan, Nishant Vats, and Harshit Gupta, Gramophone is an Indore-based full-stack agritech platform. It facilitates activities ranging from sourcing raw materials to warehousing. 

The startup sells agri inputs like seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides and farming equipment. It also provides standalone services such as warehousing and inventory management.

The startup additionally assists farmers by offering crop advisory and weather information. Simultaneously, it provides agronomic intelligence and solutions to farmers through image recognition, soil science, smart crop selection, and personalised information-led cropping systems. 

The startup has secured close to $19 Mn in total funding across five rounds. It is backed by investors like Info Edge, Z3 Partners, Asha Impact and Siana Capital. 

Last year, Info Edge announced that it would increase its stake in the company by investing  INR 9.3 Cr ($1.1 Mn) in Gramophone’s parent Agstack Technologies. 

13. Intello Labs

Launched by Milan Sharma, Nishant Mishra Himani Shah and Devendra Chandan in 2016, the Gurugram-based startup uses AI and image recognition tools to perform grading and quality checks of agri products.

The startup manufactures several sorting, grading and packaging machines, which eliminate manual labour at various steps of agricultural production and streamline the process. For instance, Intello Labs manufactures IntelloFlow, an all-in-one machine which weighs, packs and labels agricultural goods. 

Other products include Intello FruitSort (a fruit sorting machine), Intello Sort (a vegetable sorting machine), Intello Pack (an automated weighing and packing machine for fresh produce), Intello Grade (a produce grading machine), Intello Track (quality inspection machine) and Intello ShelfEye (a stock management platform).

The startup raised $2.82 Mn last year at a post-money valuation of $77 Mn. The round was led by Saama Capital, with participation from existing investors – Avaana Capital, Omnivore, Nexus Ventures and AgFunder. The company has secured a total of $15.72 Mn to date.

14. KisanKonnect

Launched during the pandemic in 2020 by Vivek Nirmal and Nidhi Nirmal, KisanKonnect now boasts a network of 5,000 farmers. The startup directly sources food from these farmers through its village-level collection centres.

It sells sourced products in the markets of Mumbai and Pune and offers its services to customers directly through its mobile app and farm stores. 

KisanKonnect claims that it manages over 1.75 Lakh acres of cultivated land and provides access to more than 200 types of vegetables and 100 types of fruits through its online platform. The startup also claims to deliver approximately 1.5 Lakh boxes of vegetables and fruits every month.

According to the startup, it serves more than 1 Lakh consumers in Pune and Mumbai. In May, the startup secured an undisclosed amount of funding from actor Shilpa Shetty.  

15. Ninjacart

The Bengaluru-based startup procures groceries, fruits and vegetables from farmers and delivers them directly to supermarkets and other retail stores. Founded by Nagarajan, Sharath Loganathan, Sachin Jose, Kartheeswaran KK and Vasudevan Chinnathambi in 2015, Ninjacart claims to source over 1,400 tonnes of fresh produce daily from farmers hailing from over 20 states. It then supplies the produce to over 17,000 retail stores.

The startup has secured more than $396 Mn since its inception. It is backed by names like Tiger Global, Walmart, Accel India and Trifecta Capital Advisors. 

Ninjacart saw its operating revenue cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The B2B agritech startup reported sales of INR 1,153.4 Cr in FY23, up 19% from INR 967.3 Cr in FY22. Despite the rise in sales, the startup’s loss grew 6% to INR 326.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 307.9 Cr in FY22.

16. ONO 

To enhance the connection between farmers and mandis, Rama Rao Kancharapu launched the discovery platform ONO in 2021.

This agritech startup offers a range of services, including ONO Connect, a price and market discovery platform; ONO Cash, a credit facilitation platform; and ONO Click, a SaaS platform for commission agents and traders. The startup also provides price and market intelligence, payment processing, collections, and digitisation of market operations. Additionally, it features ONO Mandi, a mid-mile trading platform.

The startup claims to be active in over 45 mandis across six states, with a network of over 30,000 partners and seven commodity transactions hosted on its platform.

In its latest seed funding round, ONO secured $1.3 Mn, led by Aeravti Ventures with participation from Indigram Labs.

17. Orbit Farming

After concluding his role as the vice president of operations at Swiggy, Kedar Gokhale partnered with Aishwarya Ramakrishnan to launch Orbit Farming.

Orbit Farming is dedicated to providing farm solutions specifically tailored for mid-sized Indian farmers who own 2 to 10 hectares of farmland. The founders aim to assist these farmers in boosting their farm income by offering a platform that provides farming mechanisation solutions, thereby enabling them to achieve greater profitability.

The startup’s vision, as outlined on its LinkedIn page, is to bridge the gap between traditional farming practices and modern, technology-driven solutions.

Currently, Orbit Farming is in its early stages of development and is actively engaged in assembling a founding team that shares its mission of empowering mid-sized farms.

18. Otipy

Founded in 2020 by Varun Khurana and Prashant Jain, Otipy is a part of agritech startup Crofarm Agriproducts. Otipy operates as a B2B2C social commerce platform for fresh produce, including vegetables, fruits, dairy, and other grocery items.

The startup uses its proprietary technology to procure fresh produce from farmers based on the demand calculated by its prediction engines. Then, it delivers the goods to customers within 12 hours of harvest. 

It claims to have the lowest wastage rate in the industry at 3%.

According to Inc42 data, the startup has secured $44 Mn in total funding since its inception. It counts Westbridge Capital, SIG and Omidyar Network India among its investors. 

Otipy last raised $32 Mn in a funding round led by Westbridge Capital. Back then, it said it would use the capital to expand its geographical reach across India and strengthen the supply chain. 

19. Salam Kisan

Founded in 2022 by Dhanashri Mandhani, Salam Kisan is an end-to-end agritech startup, which offers services like drone-based soil testing, procurement, and marketplace offerings to farmers.

The startup primarily earns its revenues from soil testing and drone services with which it claims to have covered over 15,000 acres of land, aiding 7,500 farmers. Currently, the startup is only operational in Maharashtra across 22 districts of the state, with a user base of 58,000 farmers. 

Interestingly, 15% of its total farmer base today is women. It also offers a DGCI-certified drone pilot training course valued at INR 50,000 per pilot. However, in the coming financial year, Salam Kisan also plans to enter the drone manufacturing segment, targeting the production of 250 drones by the end of March. The in-house drones are expected to serve the purposes such as spraying chemicals, pesticides, and seeds.

While the manufacturing unit will be located in Jalna, Maharashtra, the R&D centre will be established in Bengaluru. The startup is also focussing on recruiting new pilots.

As a bootstrapped startup, Salam Kisan commenced operations with a preliminary investment of $2 Mn. It aims to secure its first external funding round in the upcoming financial year.

20. Vegrow

Founded by Praneeth Kumar, Mrudhukar Batchu, Kiran Naik and Shobhit Jain in 2020, Vegrow operates a B2B fruit marketplace. It offers farmers a range of tech solutions such as crop advisory, grading, packaging, logistics and sales support.

The agritech startup claims to leverage data and tech to maximise farmers’ income by accurately grading the produce and efficiently matching it with the most suitable demand channel.

Vegrow has raised a total funding of over $80 Mn to date. In December 2023, the startup secured $46 Mn in its Series C funding round in a mix of primary and secondary infusions. The funding round was led by GIC and also saw participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital, and Lightspeed. It also provided a partial exit to its investors Ankur Capital, Titan Capital and Better Capital. 

At the time of the fundraise, Vegrow claimed to have witnessed a five-fold rise in its revenue in the last year and achieved operational profitability.

21. WayCool

Founded by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari in 2015, Waycool operates a full-stack agritech platform that connects farmers looking to sell produce to retailers, traders and processors, among others. 

The startup leverages technology to operate the supply chain from soil to sale. It works with over 85,000 farmers and deals in products ranging from fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, nuts and spices, to dairy and other value-added products

WayCool also offers SaaS products for clients across domains such as procurement, processing, warehousing, and distribution. 

According to Inc42 data, the startup has raised over $231 Mn in funding to date. It is backed by the likes of LightRock, LightBox, FMO, Lightsmith, IFC and Redwood Equity Partners.

This is a running article, we will keep adding more names to the list.

Last updated: June 21, 2024 

[Edited by Shishir Parasher]

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Peak XV-backed agritech startup DeHaat has completed its first-ever employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) buyback programme worth INR 10 Cr. 

In an announcement on Wednesday (June 12), DeHaat said that so far it issued ESOPs worth over INR 100 Cr to more than 200 individuals. In its first ESOP buyback, 153 team members, which includes senior vice presidents to field teams, were benefited.

Cofounder and CEO of DeHaat, Shashank Kumar, said “DeHaat’s consistent growth and unparalleled performance to empower Indian farmers for over a decade has been only possible because of the commitment and efforts of our team. The ESOP buyback program demonstrates our dedication to our employees, and we are glad to generate wealth creation opportunities.”

Founded in 2012 by Kumar, Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, and Adarsh Srivastav, Patna and Gurugram-based DeHaat is a full-stack business-to-farmer (B2F) platform, offering end-to-end agricultural services to farmers. Its services include the distribution of high-quality agri-inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling their produce.

DeHaat also said that its revenue from operations increased 40% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 2,700 Cr in FY24 while loss narrowed by 50% YoY. 

The startup claimed that its topline growth was further augmented by operating leverage and an increased focus on profitability through high-margin businesses like exports of sustainably grown farm produce, food processing and sale of biological agri-inputs. 

DeHaat aims to achieve full-year profitability in the current fiscal year, FY25.

Since its inception, the startup claims to have served over 2 Mn farmers across 11 states in India through its digital network of over 11,000 ‘DeHaat Centres’. It also boasts a network of more than 1,500 stock-keeping units, delivering over 15,000 orders per day to more than 15 countries. 

Recently, the startup also launched its products in modern trade, quick commerce and ecommerce platforms under the brand name Honest Farms. 

In November last year, it also acquired fruit export firm Freshtrop Fruits in an all-cash deal.

Over the year, the startup has raised over $300 Mn in funding across multiple rounds. The company is also backed by the likes of Sofina Ventures, RTP Global Partners, Prosus, and Lightrock India, among others.

In FY22, DeHaat had posted a net loss of INR 1,563.9 Cr which widened over 253% YoY while revenue from operations surged 2.6X YoY to INR 1,273.42 Cr.

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Delhi-NCR based dairytech startup Country Delight is looking to raise $9 Mn (INR 76 Cr) from Alteria Capital in a mix of debt and equity infusion.

To net the funds, Country Delight’s board has passed a special resolution to issue 70,000 Series F2 debentures at an issue price of INR 1 Lakh each and 3,160 Series E1 Compulsorily Convertible Cumulative Partly Paid Preference Shares (CCPS) at an issue price of INR 21,045, as per the startup’s filings.  

These shares were issued to Alteria Capital Fund II and Alteria Capital Fund III, it added.

The development was first reported by Entrackr

Alteria Capital will largely be investing in the startup through its recently closed third venture debt fund. It closed the fund in March at INR 1,550 Cr (over $190 Mn) and plans to back 100-125 companies by December 2026. 

Besides Country Fresh’s new addition, the VC firm has backed One Card, Renee Cosmetics, Samunnati, Bliss Club, Rebel Foods, Giva, Lead School, Kissht, Captain Fresh, Traya, Bluestone and Ather through its fund till date. 

It will join dairytech startup’s existing backers Temasek, Matrix Partners, Orios Ventures and Elevation Capital in the cap table.

This will mark Country Delight’s second funding round for the year. 

It raised around $20 Mn (INR 164 Cr) from its existing investors – Temasek, Venturi Partners and others, back in January. Back then, the startup raised fresh funds at a valuation of $820 Mn. 

Later in February, Orios Venture Partners also made a partial exit from Country Delight, scoring a 45X return on its bet.

Meanwhile, the startup’s operating revenue has reportedly jumped 66% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 900 Cr in financial year 2022-23 (FY23) from FY22’s INR 542.6 Cr. It also claimed to have recorded a revenue of INR 650 Cr in the first half of FY24.

Founded in 2013 by Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model. It sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. It also supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables. 

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Agritech startup FarMart has raised INR 24 Cr ($2.8 Mn) as part of a financing round from Swiss asset manager ResponsAbility Investments. 

In a statement, the startup said that it will use the fresh proceeds to accelerate its efforts towards a carbon-efficient food supply chain. As part of the deal, FarMart will also leverage responsAbility’s expertise to optimise its existing supply chain. 

“… Sustainability is at the core of our business, and responsAbility champions our goal with its strong orientation and expertise in sustainability. Their investment empowers us to accelerate our efforts towards a carbon-efficient food supply chain, and ultimately achieve our vision of a food-secure world,” said FarMart cofounder and CEO Alekh Sanghera.

Commenting on the announcement, head of sustainable food debt at responsAbility APAC Neha Baid added, “We are proud to drive reduction in food loss and waste in India through our partnership with FarMart, whose technological solutions are crucial for efficient supply chain and logistics… Through our financing and climate advisory expertise, we are scaling impact with FarMart”.

Founded in 2015 by Alekh Sanghera, Mehtab Singh Hans and Lokesh Singh, FarMart is an agritech startup that helps global food brands procure food commodities right from farmers. It leverages its network of 3 Mn farmers to help more than 2,000 food manufacturers across six countries to procure 90+ food commodities. Singh is no longer associated with the startup.

It also leverages AI to conduct quality checks and claims to emphasise traceability throughout the value chain. The B2B startup claims to cater to clients in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. 

Backed by names such as General Catalyst, Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network and Avaana Capital, the startup has raised more than $44 Mn in funding till date. 

The fundraise comes at a time when the Indian agritech startup ecosystem continues to make rapid strides on the back of growing demand for such products and services. Bolstering agriculture seems to be the incorporation of AI and renewed push from the Centre as well as states for smart agricultural practices. 

As a result, the market is growing but steadily and, alongside, a new crop of agritech players are also emerging that are disrupting the space. And investors are also lining up in droves to back these new-age tech companies.

Earlier this month, Info Edge increased its stake in agritech startup Gramophone to 39.5% with an additional investment of INR 15 Cr in the agritech startup. Prior to that, another player Niqo Robotics also marked the final close of its Series B funding round at $13 Mn.

Poshn has also secured $6 Mn, in a mix of equity and debt, as part of a Pre-Series A round co-led by Prime Venture Partners and Zephyr Peacock India.

As per Inc42, the Indian agritech space is projected to be a $25 Bn market opportunity by 2025.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has reportedly joined forces with the stakeholders of the local agriculture industry to bolster agritech startups and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into farming practices. 

As part of this initiative, the state government also plans to host a global farming summit, ‘Krishi Bharat’, in November this year in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Business Standard reported. 

The event will bring local agritech startups and global venture capitalists under one roof with an eye on spurring investments in the domestic agriculture value chain, CII Krishi Bharat 2024’s chairman Tarun Sawhney told the publication. 

CII northern region’s chairman and JK Cements CEO Madhav Singhania said that the industry is keen on resolving policy issues in consultation with the government and upgrading the technology quotient in agriculture.

As per the report, the summit will see participation from delegates from countries such as the US, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Poland, France, Spain, Indonesia and Kenya. The state plans to organise the event on the lines of its flagship ‘UP Global Investors Summit’. For context, the February 2023 edition of the event brought in investment proposals to the tune of INR 40 Lakh Cr.

Despite being the country’s leading agricultural producer, the state lags behind in terms of crop yield and lacks optimal food processing. This, in turn, leads to lower farm incomes. The state government now seems to be looking at introducing technology and smart farming practices to increase yield and empower small-scale farmers.

Accounting for nearly 19% of the country’s GDP, the agriculture sector continues to be plagued by archaic farming practices and lower output. However, agritech startups are looking to change this by leveraging technology.

A number of startups, including DeHaat, Gramophone, Ninjacart, and Waycool, have emerged over the past few years in the country to solve the woes of the agricultural sector. These startups managed to secure over $2.4 Bn in funding between 2014 and February 2024, as per Inc42 data.

As per an EY report, India’s agritech startups are looking at a total market opportunity of $24 Bn by 2025. 

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Walmart-backed agritech company Ninjacart has made a strategic investment in Philippines-based agri-fisheries startup Mayani.

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

As part of the deal, Ninjacart will not only deploy capital but also offer supply chain support and advisory services to fuel Mayani’s innovation and growth trajectory, the startup said in a statement.

Ninjacart will also support Mayani’s expansion efforts and jointly establish an integrated Asian agri-food supply chain that would catalyse more digital innovations geared to address Asia’s complex food basket, it added.

Founded by Ochie San Juan and Jeff Barreiro, Mayani caters to farmers and fisherfolk by offering them avenues to increase yield as well sustainable pathways to market via through quality inputs and alternative credit. It claims to have a network of 1.44 Lakh farmers in the Southeast Asian country.

The startup counts AgFunder, ADB, Plug and Play Ventures, Ocean Impact, and Atlas Ventures among its other investors.

The fresh investment has been facilitated through its venture capital arm Ninja Ventures as a part of the global expansion plans. The partnership will focus on identifying and addressing global food supply gaps, leveraging cross-border opportunities to amplify Mayani’s market presence, the statement said.

Ninjacart’s cofounder and CEO Kartheeswaran K K, said, “Our investment in Mayani reflects our unwavering commitment to revolutionise global agri-commerce. By bridging the expertise of two agricultural powerhouses, India and the Philippines, we aim to create a transformative impact and unlock new opportunities in the Asian agri-commerce landscape and beyond.”

Juan added, “The strategic additionality beyond capital, coupled with Ninjacart’s deep understanding of the Asian agri-supply chain, excites us about this investment. It strengthens the locus of our business, which is tech-enabled output market linkage, that further reinforces our upstream interventions on climate-positive inputs and rural financing.”

Mayani will integrate Ninjacart’s advanced technology, source traceability, and inventory management solutions to achieve interoperability, hyper-efficiency, predictive modeling, and to enhance its supply chain efficiency.

As per Ninjacart, the deal coincides with follow-on funding from existing investors, including the Jimenez family, after Mayani’s successful $1.7 Mn seed round led by AgFunder in 2023.

Ninjacart has been on a global expansion spree. Last year, the agritech business announced its entry into the Brazilian market through a partnership with Arado, an agribusiness marketplace in Brazil.

For FY23, Ninjacart saw its operating revenue cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark. The B2B agritech startup reported sales of INR 1,153.4 Cr during this period, an increase of 19% from INR 967.3 Cr in FY22. 

The post Walmart-Backed Ninjacart Invests In Philippines’ Agritech Firm Mayani appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based agritech startup CropIn has launched an open-source micro language model to aid climate smart agriculture. Dubbed ‘aksara’, the new solution is designed to address the problems of farmers in the global south and promote sustainability.

The model empowers anyone in the agriculture ecosystem to build frugal and scalable AI solutions for the sector, the company said in a statement.

Akṣara was built on Mistral’s foundation model and fine-tuned with over 5,000 high-quality question-response pairs, specifically designed for agriculture and over 160K tokens in the context.

The inaugural akṣara model will cover nine crops, including paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, barley, cotton, sugarcane, soybean and millets for five countries in the Indian subcontinent, which include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. 

As large language models consume massive amounts of energy to train and function, CropIn has decided to compress akṣara from 16 bit to 4 bit.

Incorporated in 2010 by Krishna Kumar and Kunal Prasad, CropIn is a SaaS-based agtech startup which helps farm-to-fork businesses digitise their operations and make informed decisions that enhance farming efficiency, productivity and sustainability.

It claims to have partnered with more than 250 B2B customers, digitised 30 Mn acres of farmlands, benefitting over 7 Mn farmers worldwide. 

Kumar told Inc42 that of the $34 Mn raised in the last two rounds, around 40% of the proceeds were deployed to grow intelligence and build assets for scale.

Kumar also said CropIn would be raising additional capital shortly, without divulging details on the upcoming funding round.

“We will be raising additional capital in the near future to advance these models … and incorporate these in farming operation workflows for actionable decision-making on the field. Our AI goals are strategically designed to supercharge intelligence on every cultivable land and accelerate adoption of digital technologies in agriculture,” Kumar said.

In December 2022, the startup raised $14 Mn funding from a clutch of investors, including Google and JSR Corporation. The round also saw participation from Impact Assets, along with existing investors Chiratae Ventures and JSR Active Innovation Fund.

Prior to that, in 2021, CropIn netted $20 Mn in its Series C funding round led by Singapore-based private equity firm and impact investor ABC World Asia.

Till date, CropIn raised $47 Mn in total funding, a company spokesperson told Inc42. The startup also counts Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Pratithi Investment Trust among its investors.

As per Inc42’s report, India’s agritech market is projected to reach $24 Bn by 2025. The startups operating in the space have been gaining a lot of traction from investors for quite some time now.

For instance, in February, agritech startup Farmtheory raised $1.45 Mn in a seed funding round from Merak Ventures.

In December last year, agritech startup Fasal secured $12 Mn in its Series A funding round co-led by TDK Ventures and British International Investment.

The post Chiratae Ventures Backed CropIn Rolls Out Micro Language Model To Aid Climate Smart Agriculture appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Agritech startup DeHaat, which counts Peak XV Partners and Sofina Ventures among its investors, has become the latest business-to-business supply chain and market linkage services provider to roll out its own consumer brand.

This comes months after the startup acquired the fruit export business of Ahmedabad-based listed fruit export firm Freshtrop Fruits in an all-cash deal in November last year.

DeHaat has launched its products in modern trade, quick commerce and ecommerce platforms under the brand name Honest Farms, which includes 200 stock keeping units (SKU) in categories of pulses, rice and spices.

“Honest Farms is currently in a stealth mode… we are not going very bullish in terms of TV commercials and a lot of marketing spend, because at this point of time, the brand is very new. We are fully focused on having the first 100,000 consumers just because of the product, not because of any marketing,” DeHaat’s founder and CEO Shashank Kumar told ET.

Email queries sent to DeHaat did not elicit any response till the time of filing this article. 

Founded in 2012 by Kumar, Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar and Adarsh Srivastav, Patna and Gurugram-based DeHaat offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers. Its services include the distribution of high-quality agri-inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services and market linkages for selling their produce.

Since its inception, the startup claims to have served over 2 Mn farmers across 11 states in India through its digital network of over 11,000 ‘DeHaat Centers’.

The startup boasts a network of over 1,500 stock-keeping units, delivering over 15,000 orders per day to more than 15 countries. 

DeHaat reported an over 253% YoY rise in its FY22 loss to INR 1,563.9 Cr. In 2022, the startup secured $60 Mn in a Series E funding round, which took the total amount raised in the round to $106 Mn.

The post Peak XV Backed DeHaat Launches Agrifood Consumer Brand appeared first on Inc42 Media.

India’s farming sector has served as the bedrock of the economy since independence. Even today, it sustains the livelihoods of about two-thirds of the population. Not just this, the Indian agriculture industry accounts for 19% of the country’s GDP, highlighting its enduring significance.

As of 2022, the Indian agriculture market was valued at $435.9 Bn and is expected to reach $580.82 Bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 4.9% during this period.

This growth is also a testament to the fact that the country is not only enhancing its position domestically but also in the global food trade, as evidenced by India’s push for millet exports at the G20 Leaders’ Declaration in New Delhi.

Despite the positives, the Indian agri space finds itself shrouded in an array of challenges, which range from farmer-level struggles to supply chain bottlenecks. 

In the absence of avenues that could help farmers fetch fair prices for their produce, small farmers are forced to take loans to continue farming. These loans are often taken at high-interest rates to buy farm equipment and other farm inputs.

Other than this, traditional ways of farming, diminishing soil fertility and small or fragmented land holdings further compound the hardships faced by farmers, limiting their avenues for prosperity.

To combat these, India’s new-age agritech startups are aiming to bring about a transformative shift. Despite the sector’s historical resistance to modern practices, agritech startups are making strides in addressing the aforementioned key issues with the help of innovative solutions that resonate with farmers.

According to the World Economic Forum, agritech activity in India has seen a dramatic surge in recent years, with the startup count rising from 43 in 2013 to more than 1,000 in 2020. This changing paradigm is further fuelled by increasing internet penetration in rural India.

Armed with the latest technologies such as AI, ML and IoT, agritech startups are poised to play a crucial role in reshaping India’s agricultural future, according to industry experts.

But this transformation has its own set of challenges. For starters, agritech penetration stood at about 1% in 2020, according to an Ernst & Young report. While recent data is unavailable, the rise in technology use during the pandemic likely fuelled its growth, suggesting an upward trend.

“Agritech involves season-on-season experimentation, so the pace will not match what we are used to in other sectors. For there to be a technology breakthrough and then adoption, you’re looking at a decade to two-decade cycle,” said an agritech expert during the ‘Harvesting Tomorrow Summit 2023’, an annual agritech conference organised by ThinkAg.

ThinkAg Harvesting Tomorrow Summit 2023 was held on 11 and 12 October 2023 and it hosted around 60+ industry experts as speakers. The speakers cited a number of factors challenging the adoption of agritech in India including small landholdings, a trust deficit between farmers and technology providers, diversity in agro-climatic zones and business practices, and most importantly long cycle times for experimentation and adoption.

Founded in 2018, ThinkAg is a not-for-profit AgFoodtech platform that aims to bolster the growth of India’s agritech sector by building multi-stakeholder networks, nurturing partnerships and enabling knowledge sharing. 

Through such initiatives, ThinkAg brings together diverse ecosystem stakeholders such as agritech innovators, corporates, investors, incubators, financial institutions and multilateral and development organisations – to catalyse innovation, investment and adoption of agritech solutions in India.

Sectors Propelling Agritech’s Success In India 

Despite numerous challenges, the agritech sector shows promise, as illustrated by the success stories of soonicorns such as DeHaat in Patna (focussed on farm inputs) and market linkage platforms like Ninjacart in Bengaluru and Waycool in Chennai. 

Additionally, a multitude of lending tech platforms, with a focus on agriculture, are striving to provide accessible formal credit to farmers in India.

This trend shows that Indian entrepreneurs recognise agritech as an emerging sector.

The graph above reveals the thriving opportunities within the rural ecosystem for lending, and startups are actively capitalising on these prospects. 

Beyond lending tech, drone technology has emerged as another burgeoning space, propelled by government initiatives. Ranging from fertiliser spraying to crop mapping and soil analysis, drones are finding diverse applications in farming.

In response to this, the Indian government liberalised drone operations under the Drones Rules 2021, providing relief to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ecosystem. Initiatives such as digital airspace mapping for drones and announcements like Drone Shakti in 2022 and Kisan drones across 100 locations have been lauded as positive steps by experts.

Consequently, the number of drone or UAV startups in India surged 34.4% from 157 startups in August 2021 to 221 drone startups in February 2022, with indications of continued growth in the sector.

Talking to Inc42, Sannidhi Srinivasan, lead, knowledge and strategy at ThinkAg shared, “Given the inextricable mutual impact of climate and agriculture, we will see a range of climate-resilience linked innovations emerging in the agritech sector. These will span across both — mitigation solutions such as regenerative agricultural practices including use of AgBiological inputs, as well as innovations enabling adaptation to a changing climate such as weather-based parametric insurance and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).”

The Decade Of Agritech?

Undeniably, India’s agritech space has undergone a significant change in the last few years, and a considerable portion of this development can be attributed to the increasing interest of investors in this domain.

“In India’s sizable, complex and climate-vulnerable agri-food landscape, opportunities abound for Agritech solutions to create value, spanning digitisation-led value chain disruption, data-enabled financing and insurance and science-based innovations for novel production inputs and techniques, to name a few,” said Ritu Verma, cofounder of ThinkAg and cofounder and managing partner at Ankur Capital. 

She added that the current capital scarce climate, though a challenge, can refocus companies on the fundamentals of value creation and drive bold moves that payoff when the markets recover. 

According to Inc42, the Indian agritech sector secured more than $2.4 Bn in funding in 285 deals between 2014 and February 2024.

Notably, the year 2022 marked a significant milestone for the industry, as agritech startups secured a record $817 Mn across 60+ deals.

Although the numbers declined in 2023, totalling $208 Mn across 28+ deals, industry experts have said that this downturn was the result of the overall decline in funding levels. According to Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023, startup funding hit a 7-year low of $10 Bn as investor appetite waned in 2023

On a positive note, however, 2023 witnessed the announcement of 10 funds that have agritech as a focus segment, and prominent investors such as Aeravati Ventures, Omnivore (Fund III) and Unicorn India Ventures (Fund III) actively participated in funding rounds across various deals.

The infographic above highlights that investors predominantly exhibit bullish sentiments towards early stage agritech startups, with 116 deals recorded to date. This stands in contrast with growth and late stage startups, which collectively secured 126 deals.

The agritech sector is now transitioning into a new phase of maturity, marked by a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. According to Inc42 data, high growth startups like WayCool and DeHaat are leading the charge for agritech consolidation since 2019.

A ThinkAg report identifies this trend as a ‘portfolioization’ of solution driven by mature agritech startups’ pursuit of expansion up and down the value chain, across additional value chains or into new geographies.

For instance, DeHaat’s acquisition of agri-input marketplace Helicrofter in 2022 is on the upstream spectrum of the value chain, while the acquisition of food processing startup YCook in the same year lies at the downstream end. 

Today, India’s agritech industry stands at the cusp of explosive growth, propelled by a convergence of factors such as increasing demand, heightened internet penetration and rising investor support.

Notably, government initiatives like the Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM), launched in 2021, and the Agriculture Accelerator Fund are crucial steps towards providing vital infrastructure and support for agritech startups and allied sectors.

According to an Inc42 report, the market opportunity for agritech is anticipated to reach $25 Bn by 2025, signifying a transition from its nascent stages to mainstream prominence in the near future.

Despite these positive prospects, the Indian agritech sector confronts challenges that could potentially impede its growth trajectory. A notable obstacle is the digital divide, particularly in rural areas. Bridging this gap is imperative to ensure that the benefits of agritech innovations are accessible to all key stakeholders of this space.

Fostering community building and providing networking opportunities will be critical strategies for increasing stakeholder involvement to counter the industry’s growing pains.

“We organise in-person gatherings, each focussed on specific themes relevant to the ecosystem and spread across various parts of India. The overall objective is to further knowledge about agritech opportunities, technologies and ventures and facilitate connections and potential partnerships among ecosystem stakeholders,” said Srinivasan.

In 2024, ThinkAg is set to host more events, along with its flagship Harvesting Tomorrow Summit, which will be held between September 25 and 26 in Goa. This commitment reflects the organisation’s dedication to nurturing collaboration and steering the agritech industry towards a future of sustainable growth and innovation.

The post Harvesting Tech In Farming: A Deep Dive Into The $25 Bn Agritech Market Opportunity appeared first on Inc42 Media.

With an aim to foster India’s entrepreneurial spirit and unite key players, industry body ASSOCHAM, in collaboration with Nasscom, Bootstrap Incubation & Advisory Foundation, TiE, and Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), will host Startup Mahakumbh from March 18-20 in New Delhi.

The one-of-a-kind event will see participation from 1,000+ high-growth startups, unicorns, domestic and global VCs, and more. It will also feature 10+ sector-specific pavilions showcasing India’s most innovative startups.

Meticulously curated, these pavilions will display cutting-edge advancements and industry insights across diverse fields. One such important pavilion would showcase the innovations and achievements of the agritech sector, key to modernising the country’s agriculture.

According to the World Economic Forum, India’s agritech activity has skyrocketed in recent years, with startups surging to over 1,000 in 2020 from 43 in 2013. Recognising this rise, the agritech pavilion will feature engaging panel discussions, masterclasses, deal rooms and other formats. Its ‘entrepreneur-first’ agenda will ensure that startups get access to one-on-one mentoring sessions, live pitches, best practices on governance and the opportunity to participate and win awards for their innovations. Besides offering a vibrant environment to exchange ideas and best practices, the pavilion will showcase 60+ agritech startups that are revolutionising agricultural innovation in India.

It is presented by NABARD and powered by Aavishkaar Group. 

“The importance of the agritech pavilion is in realising what agritech startups can do for the farmers. The aim is to help the farmers transcend into the role of micro-entrepreneurs. Agritech startups will also work to decode the engagement with farmers at a social and cultural level,” said Vineet Rai, founder and chairman of Aavishkaar Group, executive member of IVCA and the lead for agritech pavilion. 

Additionally, the pavilion will host inspiring keynotes, panel discussions, and an exclusive award ceremony for promising ventures.

Networking & Growth Opportunities

Led by the Aavishkaar Group, the pavilion will showcase exhibition pods, which will feature startups leading agricultural innovation. It will also feature eminent speakers including industry stalwarts such as Mohandas Pai, chairperson Aarin Capital Partners and Manipal Global Education as well as leaders from prominent agritech startups like AgroStar, DeHaat, Cropin, Samunnati, among others.

“We’re excited to participate in Startup Mahakumbh,” said Rai, “The ‘Bharat Innovates’ theme embodies the link between innovation and startups. As host and pavilion lead, we’ll bring key partners, visionaries, and promising enterprises, weaving a rich tapestry of insights, ideas, and investments. It will showcase the latest advancements, disruptive technologies, and opportunities reshaping agriculture’s future,” he added. 

NABARD, India’s apex development bank for sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development, will also be a key partner and sponsor of the agritech pavilion. This collaboration highlights Nabard’s dedication to nurturing innovation and growth in the agritech sector. At the pavilion, Nabard will introduce a select group of startups, showcasing the dynamic potential within India’s agri-startup ecosystem. 

“NABARD has been supporting the startup ecosystem in agritech space through contributions to AIFs. We are also supporting startups in the agritech space through NABVENTURE, a venture capital subsidiary. We would continue to provide support for initiatives that propel the agritech ecosystem  and in this direction, NABARD has chosen to be the lead partner in the agritech pavilion which aims to highlight the contributions of these enterprises to our agro-ecosystem. I fully hope that at this event, we collectively work towards a brighter, more sustainable future for agriculture in India,” said Shaji KV, chairman, NABARD. 

“Significant interventions need to be made to make the supply of farm inputs seamless and create more value. There is also a pressing need to look into the post-harvest aspect and how the food makes it from the farm to the fork. Innovations in branding, food processing and fintech aspects are also important. Farmers should be made an intrinsic part of the food processing industry so they flourish as micro-entrepreneurs,” said Rai. 

The post Startup Mahakumbh: Agritech Pavillion To Celebrate Startups & Innovators In The Sunrise Sector appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Nearly five decades ago, India opened its eyes to the dawn of the green revolution with the adoption of high-yielding variety of seeds, mechanised farm tools, pesticides, and fertilisers. Consequently, the country was able to cull widespread hunger and poverty and move from importing grains to a state of self-sufficiency.

Today, we are on the cusp of another green revolution in the agriculture space and leading this from the front are the country’s agritech startups armed with an artillery of sophisticated drones, deeptech expertise and more.  

What’s also fuelling the growth of the country’s agritech space is the government’s commitment to provide support to the sector. 

Notably, the Centre liberalised the drone industry in 2021, paving the way for their use in the Indian agri space and in areas of crop assessment, digitisation of land records, and spraying of pesticides.

This has not only helped Indian farmers unlock new opportunities but also entrepreneurs, who are making waves in the Indian agri space with their state-of-the-art services, top-of-the-class indigenous tech stack and intelligent drones.

Mumbai-based agritech startup Salam Kisan is one such name that is enabling the agricultural space with its ‘drone-as-a-service’ offerings and drone training to rural youth.

Founded in 2022 by Dhanashri Mandhani, Salam Kisan is an end-to-end agritech startup, which offers services like drone-based soil testing, produce procurement, and marketplace offerings, to the farmers.

With a major chunk of land mass being under agriculture in India, Salam Kisan sees itself as an emerging player in the agritech sector with unlocked opportunities worth multi-billion dollars. 

Also, with drones as one of its key services, the startup eyes a juicy share of the market that, as per Inc42’s analysis, is expected to become a $13 Bn market opportunity by 2030. 

The Salam Kisan Ecosystem

A business graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Mandhani decided to leverage her knowledge and integrate it with technical research to empower the Indian farmers with the latest technologies. 

Speaking with Inc42, founder and CEO Mandhani said that the idea behind floating the agritech startup was to aid marginal farmers holding small land holdings with the latest farming technologies.

Today, the startup offers drone-as-a-service to the farmers in Maharashtra. It has about 70-80 drones deployed across 22 districts of the state. 

With Type-C DGCA clearance, the startup locks horns with rivals such as IoTex, Garuda, and Paras in the larger drone tech space.

In addition to aiding farmers in evaluating soil quality, pesticide spraying, and crop management, the startup offers a DGCI-certified drone pilot training course valued at INR 50,000 per pilot.  

With its drone services, the startup has so far covered over 15,000 acres of land, aiding 7,500 farmers.

Mandhani told Inc42 that the startup provides end-to-end support to farmers — from soil testing to sowing and harvesting — via its app.

The application also has a marketplace for the farmers to buy agri inputs such as pesticides, fertilisers, seeds and farm equipment. Although the startup doesn’t offer logistics support for the delivery of those products, it has a network of more than 300 partner dealers and suppliers with offline stores. 

In addition, the agritech startup offers crop procurement services to soya bean farmers. Further, Salam Kisan is all geared up to launch its financial services vertical in April this year. With this launch, it aims to streamline the process for farmers to access bank loans. 

The Salam Kisan app also helps farmers find government websites that offer subsidies and other government support programmes. 

How Does Salam Kisan Make Money?

As a bootstrapped startup, Salam Kisan kick-started its journey with a preliminary investment of $2 Mn. It today has a user base of 58,000 farmers. The startup primarily earns its revenues from soil testing and drone services. 

For soil testing, Salam Kisan charges between INR 250 to INR 400 per acre, while drone services are priced between INR 450 to INR 600 per acre.

It levies a transaction fee on suppliers and vendors for listing their products on the Salam Kisan app. Additionally, farmers are charged a trading margin for soybean procurement services.

The Road Ahead

The startup aims to secure its first external funding round in the upcoming financial year. Facing operational challenges due to dependency on procured drones, Salam Kisan is now developing an in-house drone manufacturing unit, targeting the production of 250 drones by the end of March.

“We have opted for in-house drone manufacturing due to high downtime associated with procured drones,” Mandhani said.

While the manufacturing unit will be located in Jalna, Maharashtra, the R&D centre will be established in Bengaluru. The startup is also focussing on recruiting new pilots.

The prototype of its in-house drone is ready and awaits DGCA approval and a Type-C drone certification. These drones are expected to serve various purposes, including spraying chemicals, pesticides, and seeds.

Considering the nascent adoption of drones in India’s agricultural practices, Salam Kisan plans to introduce AI-powered multispectral and hyperspectral drones in the next financial year. Additionally, the startup may explore selling its in-house drones as products in the future.

The startup claims that 15% of its total farmer base today is women, which it aims to increase further. Salam Kisan also claims to have aligned itself with the Centre’s Drone Didi initiative, which aims to train at least 15,000 women as drone pilots. 

“My primary goal with this company is also to formalise the women workforce, not just on farms but also within our company,” Mandhani told Inc42.

With an array of tech solutions available for farmers today and drones playing a central role in the country’s agritech space, which is expected to become a $24 Bn market opportunity by 2025, Salam Kisan’s growth story has just started to unravel.

The post How Salam Kisan Is Pioneering The Indian Agritech Boom With Its Farming Drones appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Delhi NCR-based Country Delight’s revenue stood at INR 650 Cr in the first half of the ongoing financial year and the dairy tech startup expects to continue this revenue rate for the full year, Inc42 has learnt.

Country Delight is expecting to reach an EBITDA breakeven by the end of H1 2025, sources told Inc42, citing the financial information submitted by the startup to its key investors.

It is pertinent to note the Country Delight is yet to file its audited financial statements for FY23 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Its operating revenue stood at around INR 900 Cr in FY23, an increase of around 66% from INR 542.6 Cr in FY22, the sources added.

However, Inc42 couldn’t ascertain Country Delight’s net loss/profit number for FY23. The startup’s net loss ballooned over 6.5X to INR 186.4 Cr in FY22 from INR 28.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Country Delight cofounder Chakradhar Gade said in September last year that the startup would become profitable in the next 8-10 months. 

As per the sources, Country Delight’s cash reserves stood at around INR 400 Cr at the end of Q2 FY24. 

A questionnaire sent to the startup seeking clarity on its FY23 and H1 FY24 numbers and cash reserves didn’t receive any response till the time of publishing this story.

It must be noted that earlier this year, Inc42 exclusively reported that the startup had raised $20 Mn from its existing investors, including Temasek, Venturi Partners, and others.

Earlier this month, Orios Venture Partners, one of the earliest backers of Country Delight, scored a 45X return during its partial exit. 

Founded in 2013 by Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model. It sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. It also supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables. 

Earlier, Gade also said that the startup plans to sell kitchen products such as wheat, batters, jams, oil and pickles, among others. However, it is yet to launch these products. 

Besides major traditional players such as Mother Dairy, Nandini, and Amul, Country Delight competes against new-age players such as Odisha-based Milk Mantra and Reliance-acquired Milk Basket.

The post Exclusive: Country Delight Posts INR 650 Cr Sales In H1 FY24 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Chennai-based WayCool Foods fired at least 70 employees over the last month in what was the second layoff exercise at the agritech startup within a year, sources told Inc42.

The latest layoff exercise impacted employees across departments, including sales, research, marketing, and tech, the sources said.

The startup, which houses subsidiaries such as WayCool Censa, WayCool BrandNext, also shut its warehouses over the last month, they added.

The sources cited the startup’s failure to raise any new funding round in the last two years as the reason behind the restructuring exercise.

Responding to Inc42’s queries on the issue, a WayCool spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but did not disclose the number of employees impacted by the restructuring exercise.

“Over the past one year, WayCool foods has focused its investment behind its own brands, to capture the benefit of its efficient supply chain to the fullest. Our brands have achieved a significant scale. This enables us to build a direct, warehouse free supply chain from source to market. Hence, we have rationalised the warehouse footprint, resulting in some redundancies,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson claimed that this shift has helped the startup reduce its EBITDA loss by over 80% and it is now poised to turn EBITDA profitable in Q1 FY25.

“Indeed, several of our business units are already EBITDA positive for several months . We are, as we speak, wrapping up another round of funding and will continue to raise capital as required by the business,” the statement added.

WayCool launched its FMCG entity BrandsNext Last year, which houses brands such as Madhuram, KITCHENji, DeziFresh, and Freshey’s. 

It is important to note that WayCool also laid off around 300 employees in a restructuring exercise in July last year in a bid to turn profitable. While some of the employees resigned, several others were asked to put down their papers. 

It was reported last year that the agritech startup was in talks to raise around $50 Mn-$70 Mn at a valuation of around $900 Mn. However, it failed to close this round due to the ongoing funding winter. This forced WayCool to cut down its expenses to extend the runway.

WayCool has not yet filed its financial statements for FY23 with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). As per reports, it has reportedly cut down its expenses by 60% since October 2022 and was looking to close FY23 with a revenue of INR 1,700 Cr. 

In FY22, the startup’s net loss zoomed 142% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 360.5 Cr. Operating revenue surged 2.4X to INR 926.9 Cr from INR 382.3 Cr in FY21.

WayCool has raised a total funding of about $300 Mn till date and counts the likes of Lightrock, Lightbox, Lightsmith, 57 Stars, and FMO among its backers. 

The post Exclusive: WayCool Fires 70 Employees In Second Restructuring Exercise WithIn A Year appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Early-stage venture capital firm Orios Venture Partners, which counts Battery Smart, Karbon, ixigo, Mobikwik, CarDekho and Vedantu among its portfolio companies, has made a partial exit from Country Delight, scoring a 45X return on the initial bet of the seven-year-old dairytech startup.

However, the firm still holds the majority of its investment stake from Fund I in the company. 

“When investing back in 2017, Orios had built a thesis on subscription commerce and had as part of the sector study met with more than 40 companies before selecting Country Delight,” the fund said in a statement.

It further added that the exit underscores the value in Orios’ strategy of identifying the best companies and investing in them early.

Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. Besides this, it supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

The startup has raised close to $158 Mn (excluding the ongoing funding round) across multiple rounds. It counts Temasek, Matrix Partners, Orios Ventures and Elevation Capital as among its marquee investors.

Country Delight in FY22 saw its net loss surge over 6X to INR 186.4 Cr from INR 28.2 Cr, whereas the revenue from operations increased by over 1.7X to INR 542.6 Cr. 

Marking the growth since its inception, the company has raised a total of 9 funding rounds and has achieved a valuation of $820 million in its latest funding round, said the statement by the company.

Rehan Yar Khan, managing partner at Orios Venture Partners, said, “We believe exceptional founders in large spaces can build special companies. With Country Delight, it has been an honour and great learning experience to watch Chakradhar and Nitin build the company, from a single product to over 140 products”

“We look at between 4000 to 5000 companies in a year to invest in 10. We have been doing this since 2008, first as private investors and then since 2014 as an AIF fund. The same process also led to the identification of Ola and Druva”

Meanwhile, Orios, launched in 2014, primarily invests in software and technology-enabled startups. Last month, Orios Venture Partners said it had returned INR 300 Cr from Fund I to its investors.

Launched in 2014, the VC firm’s Fund I was concluded with a final close at INR 300 Cr in 2015.

The fund allocated its resources, focusing significantly on marketplaces leading at 27.07%, followed by direct-to-consumer (D2C) at 17.7% and healthtech at 14.45%. Among the major portfolios from the fund include PharmEasy, Country Delight and Zostel. 

Orios looks to further solidify its position with significant returns lined up in 2024 and 2025.

Orios was also one of the investors in beleaguered car servicing startup GoMechanic, which it wrote down amid controversies in the company. 

In September last year, two former managing partners of Orios, Anup Jain and Rajeev Suri, stepped down from their positions to pursue other opportunities. 

As per Inc42’s ‘Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023’, Indian startups secured a little over $10 Bn in funding by December 25, registering a 60% decline from $25 Bn raised in the year before.

The post Orios Scores 45X Returns In Partial Exit From Country Delight appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Was it wilful fraud or simply incompetence by the four founders and unintended outcomes thereof? That’s the question being asked in the case of Accel-backed Mooofarm, more than six months after controversy broke out at the startup.

As we reported exclusively in July 2023, the Delhi NCR-based agritech and dairy tech startup, which has to date raised more than $15 Mn from the likes of Accel, Aavishkaar and several other investors, filed a police complaint against its former finance head Vineet Bhati for allegedly embezzling INR 10 Cr for personal gains.

In the immediate aftermath, Bhati disputed the Mooofarm management’s claims and alleged that the founders — including then CEO Param Singh — were also complicit in the syphoning of funds. Sources close to the company said at the time that bank statements and transaction entries put Bhati at the centre of the alleged fraud.

Now more than six months later, many of these claims have been questioned by several former Mooofarm employees, which has further complicated the issue.

What’s more: Param Singh has been replaced as CEO by cofounder Abhijeet Mittal in what many employees are calling a response by investors to the corporate governance mess at Mooofarm. While Param Singh has denied that he was asked to step down, he confirmed handing over the executive decision-making to Mittal.

Param Singh has taken on the role of founding director in the company and told Inc42 that his focus is on fundraising to keep the company afloat.

But there is more. Former employees allege that not only were founders aware of the embezzlement as Bhati has claimed, but there is a deeper rot at Mooofarm, including its business model of cattle marketplace and supply platform on the back of which it has raised funds.

Indeed, when it comes to the business model, Mooofarm’s problems are similar to other startups in this segment, including Nexus Venture Partners and Omnivore-backed Animall, which has also pivoted in recent months.

The biggest allegation from employees is about gross misreporting of revenue, where Mooofarm’s founders and management are alleged to have employed tactics such as inventory rotation, fake vendors and fake customers to not just show higher-than-actual revenue but also embezzle funds further.

The company has vehemently denied these allegations, insisting that Bhati was singularly responsible for the alleged embezzlement of more than INR 10 Cr. The company’s complaint has been registered as an FIR by the Economic Offences Wing in Gurugram, though Inc42 was not given the current status of the probe by the EOW.

Bhati did not respond to Inc42’s requests on the company’s allegations in the FIR.

Mooofarm was founded in 2019 by Param Singh, Aashna Singh, Jitesh Arora and Abhijeet Mittal. Employees allege that the four founders didn’t just ignore widespread sales misreporting, but also used the company’s funds for personal travel, as well as spending on expensive gifts, artwork and luxury goods.

Some of these allegations are backed by statements for Mooofarm’s corporate credit card account, which Inc42 has reviewed. It’s unclear whether the company was reimbursed for this alleged personal spending by the founders, but in many cases, the company would also expense the corresponding amount to non-empanelled vendors, Inc42 has learnt from sources close to the finance team.

Employees Raise Red Flags At Mooofarm

The most vocal complaint from former employees is that Mooofarm has not paid them since August 2023. Many claimed Mooofarm already had lax payroll standards, but in this case, the company seems unwilling to even acknowledge the problems of those with emergency medical bills.

Former Mooofarm employees allege that only those close to the founders are being paid regularly. Besides overdue salaries, the company is alleged to have not deposited provident fund contributions and the tax deducted at source. Mooofarm did not deny these allegations but claimed to be working towards resolving the issue.

The company acknowledged that many employees have not been paid since September last year, but added that it’s offering all assistance to such employees, even though this has been disputed by our sources.

Current CEO Mittal told Inc42 that the financial situation of Mooofarm has been destabilised by the alleged embezzlement of funds and as a result, the company had to cut back on many fronts. The CEO added that the company has raised over INR 2 Cr to settle the overdue salaries.

And even though this money was raised — corroborated by MCA filings — employees have not reported being paid their salaries.

Employees who worked with the key decision makers in Mooofarm’s product and sales team claim that INR 2 Cr would not even cover half of the overdue salaries, and besides this the company is said to have unpaid vendor dues of close to INR 10 Cr.

The bigger problem at Mooofarm is that its business model looked to organise a segment that has a reputation of being ‘unorganisable’. The company primarily earned revenue from connecting buyers and sellers of cattle.

While it started as a marketplace, Mooofarm is an inventory-led ecommerce platform today. But supply cattle across the country means dealing with middlemen, red tape, political hurdles, supply chain restraints and lack of monitoring.

As one investor in the agritech space told us, “No startup has been able to crack the model of cattle supply. Some businesses cannot be made better by tech or startups.”

In the grand scheme of the startup ecosystem, Mooofarm is not the largest startup by any measure. But it’s a story of how investors backed weak business models at the height of the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) phenomenon in 2021 and 2022.

The Alleged ‘Fraud’ Mooofarm Acknowledges

Last July, the Accel-backed company filed a criminal complaint against former finance head Bhati for allegedly embezzling more than INR 10 Cr for potential personal gains. Bhati, an employee of the startup since day one, denied these allegations and shot back at the founders alleging that they were complicit in any fraud or embezzlement.

While the complaint filed in July was registered as an FIR in September by the Haryana Police and then passed on to the Economic Offences Wing — confirmed independently by Inc42 — the corporate governance disarray drew the attention of investors such as Accel and Aavishkaar Capital.

Accel, which holds a 20% equity in the company and is therefore the lead shareholder, is said to have initiated an internal audit. Employees who were with the company during this time said the auditor appointed by Accel found discrepancies in terms of fake employees drawing large salaries.

While Mooofarm acknowledged paying employees that never existed, it laid the blame at Bhati’s feet.

“On finding out about the fraud in July 2023, the company conducted a thorough internal investigation and identified 20 fictitious consultants meticulously orchestrated by ex finance head [Bhati], within the Company record. There is no record of any of these consultants in any Company data, such as offer letters, banking details, contact information etc. These salaries were never part of the payroll of the Company. Ex finance head transferred these fake booked salaries to his own accounts, making himself the beneficial recipient,” ex-CEO and Mooofarm cofounder Param Singh told Inc42 in response to a lengthy questionnaire about the allegations.

As per documents procured from sources that are privy to the company’s finances, Mooofarm paid over INR 2.64 Cr in salaries to 13 fictitious consultants from April 2021 to March 2023 (FY22 and FY23). The total amount paid could well be over INR 2.64 Cr since Inc42 was only able to source data for 13 fictitious consultants, and the company claims to have found 20 such individuals who have been paid without being formally employed.

The Alleged ‘Fraud’ Mooofarm Denies

Employees dispute the founders’ version of events claiming that the fictitious contractors were part of the payroll data sent to potential investors by the founders when raising the Series A round in December 2022.

“Founders claim to be unaware of Vineet Bhati’s actions till July 2023, but they had access to both the actual payroll data from Human Resources as well as how much salary was actually paid. Any discrepancy should have been clear when they submitted MIS to investors,” said one former employee who quit the company and is awaiting their final compensation.

Further, employees allege that Mooofarm was not able to prove its marketplace model and any growth shown to investors was based on fabricated revenue. “The founders pitched revenue of INR 120 Cr for 2023 when raising funds in 2022, but the numbers for FY23 are just around INR 20 Cr.”

CEO Mittal confirmed that Mooofarm’s total revenue (marketplace+inventory) for FY23 was INR 19.6 Cr, and employees say that founders are at the very least responsible for this revenue inflation even if they claim to have not known about the salaries to fake employees.

But former employees in the product, design and business teams at Mooofarm claim the startup has done even worse in FY24, which led to layoffs and forced resignations, unpaid salaries and vendor dues.

Besides fake employees, the management is alleged to misreported revenue in a bid to show higher top line or gross merchandise value (GMV) and secure funds on the basis of GMV growth.

While GMV is a legitimate metric in ecommerce that is used to gauge the scale of any marketplace or platform, this is not exactly applicable for Mooofarm. The GMV metric was hollow because of the holes in the startup’s business model. To understand why employees have alleged fraud, we need to understand Mooofarm’s business model, where there were two pillars — marketplace and the inventory model.

To be clear, the inventory model is better for unit economics, since Mooofarm could ensure higher quality for the cattle and get the best margins between procurement and sales. On the marketplace, owners selling cattle could set their own prices and platforms have to bear the discount costs, but under the inventory model, Mooofarm can look to extract higher margins.

“The thin margin is barely enough to break even and when there is a liquidation of assets (cattle), it basically eats into the margin of all breakeven transactions,” said one of the sources that we spoke to.

Liquidation essentially means the company has to send the cattle to the food processing industry or abattoirs. This would net the company around 40% of the procurement cost, so each liquidated asset is a 60% negative margin.

It’s no surprise that the marketplace model has been discontinued by Mooofarm since Q4 FY23 because of the better unit economics in the inventory approach. But it has not been able to prove this model either.

The company denied any misreporting of revenue in its responses to Inc42. “All the company’s recorded revenue is substantiated with proper documentation. There are very low trade receivables and the business runs on negative working capital. There is no misrepresentation or falsification of revenue bookings. Furthermore, the company is on track to achieve EBITDA positivity by October 2024,” Param Singh said.

In response to our questions, Mooofarm’s current CEO Mittal told Inc42, the company earned INR 3.24 Cr from the marketplace model in FY23, and INR 16.4 Cr from the inventory model for a total of INR 19.6 Cr in operating revenue from sale of goods. He did not comment on the losses in FY23.

However, the company’s valuation report as of September 2023 shows a total revenue of INR 39.5 Cr in FY23 with losses of INR 56 Cr.

Amid these losses, the founders are being accused by employees of spending on luxury goods and gifts from the company’s credit card. Inc42 has seen credit card statements that show payments of nearly INR 8 Lakh to a bronze sculptor based in the US, along with purchases worth nearly INR 3 Lakh from international and Indian online gifting stores.

In the past, Mooofarm had claimed it offered a dairy-as-a-service full-stack platform where farmers could not only buy cattle, but also access telehealth and veterinary services that are said to increase milk yield, and also get financing aid to manage operations and buy dairy inputs.

Mittal told Inc42, “Our topline is increasing month on month and we have already become operationally profitable in both the businesses and CM3 profitable in the Animal Nutrition business.”

Can Accel-Backed Mooofarm Survive?

For Mooofarm, the last major round of infusion came in December 2022. In December 2023, the company received board approval to raise a bridge round. So far it has raised INR 2.1 Cr in the bridge round from existing investors Navus Ventures, Rockstart and new investor Thrive Wealth.

Interestingly, the pre-placement offer for this bridge round which is expected to raise INR 8 Cr+ or $1 Mn was sent to a number of investors but Mooofarm’s majority investors Accel, Aavishkaar Capital were not offered a chance to invest

We asked Accel and Aavishkaar about investing in Mooofarm, but neither responded to Inc42’s questions on the company, the alleged corporate governance lapses, or allegations against the founders and the management.

Vanity metrics like GMV have been used as a revenue analogue for as long as retail has existed. But in the case of startups that need to ‘show’ growth to secure VC funds, GMV has become something of a cuss word, especially in 2024 and at the growth stage.

Mooofarm is firmly in the growth stage of its lifecycle and as a growing company, it desperately needs VC money to scale up. Without external funds, the growth of new-age ecommerce verticals such as cattle or agritech inputs is highly arduous to scale up. VC funds bring in the money needed for marketing, creating technology moats, high-quality software products and hiring the right talent.

It’s interesting that Mooofarm is raising such a low amount, especially given that based on the company claims, this would only offer a short runway. For instance, Mittal said that the company has brought down its EBITDA burn to around INR 1 Cr per month since October 2023, but it’s not clear whether this accounts for the outstanding dues.

“Following recent initiatives to lower fixed costs, we anticipate that by March 2024, our EBITDA [burn] will be reduced to below 50 lakhs. This trend is expected to continue, bolstered by a growing topline and consistently improving margins month-over-month and hence the profitability in Oct-24,” he added.

Even at this EBITDA burn, the company only has a few months of runway given that it has only raised INR 2 Cr from investors thus far in what it calls a ‘bridge’ round.

Mittal’s claims about EBITDA burn do not align with the stock purchase capital requirements in the inventory model and the high liquidation rate for low-quality cattle. The company’s move to an inventory-first model means it has to procure cattle to sell to prospective buyers.

Former employees in the tech and product team claim the company has not developed any technology for cattle monitoring. Even the marketplace business was being run through unsophisticated Google Forms.

But Mooofarm’s CEO Mittal is bullish despite these long-term issues. “Our top line is increasing month on month and we have already become operationally profitable in both the businesses and CM3 profitable in the Animal Nutrition business.”

It’s interesting that Mittal namedrops the nutrition business, which does not feature in the company’s financials for FY22 or the valuation report for FY23 and FY24. The revenue structure for the nutrition business was also not explained by Mittal.

Dairy Tech Promise Sours

Other companies in spaces parallel to Mooofarm have learnt the ground reality the hard way. Sources told us that Animall, for instance, is looking to move on from a full-stack dairy play i.e. holding inventory to a marketplace model because it’s hard to take ownership of an asset like cattle.

Bengaluru-based Animall reported revenue of INR 7.4 Cr in FY22, with a net loss of over INR 44 Cr.

Another major dairy tech startup Stellapps, which is close to raising a fresh round, is relying on hardware and IoT for dairy monitoring and other supply chain solutions for dairy farmers. It has also expanded into milk supply with MooMark.

To be clear, several startups have made the most of the milk supply and delivery opportunity but this space has long-tail competition and plenty of conglomerate-backed players such as Tata’s BigBasket, Reliance’s Milk Basket and scaled up startups such as Country Delight with revenue over INR 500 Cr.

Mooofarm’s and Animall’s respective revenue base pales in comparison.

“No agritech startup has been able to crack the full-stack model for cattle, inputs and services. The biggest problem is the cattle supply. The unorganised market has problems related to logistics costs, social and political hurdles, revenue leakage and the reliance on cash, and unfortunately, there are some areas that you cannot improve with tech,” added another early-stage investor who is said to have reviewed Mooofarm’s model during due diligence.

Which brings us to why noted investors such as Accel, Aavishkaar and others missed the potential red flags in the dairy business.

It’s interesting to note that Mooofarm raised funds at the tail end of the ZIRP season. The zero interest rate policies or ZIRP meant that investors were more than happy taking risky bets, and perhaps even a bit casual on the due diligence side. The valuation bubble from this time resulted in what many are calling ‘ZIRPicorn startups’.

The realisation is fast-setting that banking on GMV or top-line growth alone — as Mooofarm is in its responses—  is just not tenable in 2024, unless it is supported by massive scale.

Mooofarm does not have the scale, it has burnt investors’ funds at an alarmingly fast pace and the governance mess (whoever might eventually be responsible for the alleged fraud) is a major red flag. Investors are taking a fine tooth comb to every claim made by founders and projected financials. And often the ghost of misreported revenue comes back to haunt startups and founders in times of cash crunch.

We saw this in the case of GoMechanic, where the fudging of books came to the surface when the company wanted to raise funds. Or in the case of Zilingo before that, or Mojocare after that. While startups could have manipulated GMV to secure funding in the past, these corporate governance lapses have perked up the ears of even the most easy-going VC.

Former employees claim founders have passed on the buck to the former finance head Bhati without acknowledging their role or responsibility. “In fact, Vineet [Bhati] has been close to Param [Singh] for nearly 15 years. It’s not possible that the founders were unaware of anything he was doing. It’s either fraud or incompetence,” said one former employee.

Mooofarm is learning the hard way that shortcuts to growth have long-term consequences. Now, employees are caught in the middle and the startup also owes crores in loan repayments and vendor dues.

Will the hundreds of employees who have waited for months finally get relief or will Mooofarm struggle to get enough funds to pay off all these dues and become another startup that fell by the wayside due to a cash crunch that uncovered its revenue and governance mess?

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Citing the importance of the agricultural sector for the country’s economy, finance minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman made a number of announcements for the sector in the interim Budget, which will also provide a boost to the agritech startups in the country.

“Farmers are our ‘Annadata’…The sector is poised for inclusive, balanced, higher growth and productivity. These are facilitated from farmer-centric policies, income support, coverage of risks through price and insurance support, promotion of technologies and innovations through startups,” the FM said.

Besides recounting the efforts undertaken by the Modi government for the agriculture sector, Sitharman laid out plans for use of technology, promoting research and development, and increasing participation of private players to boost productivity.

“For ensuring faster growth of the sector, our government will further promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing and marketing and branding,” she said.

Here’s some of the key announcements made by the FM her speech for the agriculture sector:

• After the successful adoption of Nano Urea, application of Nano DAP on various crops will be expanded in all agro-climatic zones
• Building on the initiative announced in 2022, a strategy will be formulated to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower
• More impetus will be on research for high-yielding varieties, widespread adoption of modern farming techniques, market linkages, procurement, value addition, and crop insurance
• A comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated. The programme will be built on the success of existing schemes such as Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Livestock Mission, and Infrastructure Development Funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry
• Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will be stepped up to enhance aquaculture productivity to 5 tonnes per hectare from 3 tonnes currently; double exports to 1 Lakh crore and generate 55 Lakh employment opportunities in near future.
• Five integrated aquaparks will be set up

Agritech Stakeholders Welcome Budget Announcements 

Commenting on the announcements for the agricultural sector in the Budget, Abhilash Sethi, investment director at agriculture-focussed VC fund Omnivore, said the focus on agriculture and food processing is an encouraging sign for agritech startups.

Talking about the expectations from the Budget, a number of agritech stakeholders had highlighted the need to incentivise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies in the agriculture sector.

Taking a step towards this, FM Sitharaman announced that a corpus of INR 1 Lakh Cr will be established for providing 50 year interest free loans. The corpus will provide long-term financing or refinancing with long tenors and low or nil interest rates.

“This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation significantly in sunrise domains,” FM said.

While the FM didn’t mention the sectors which would be a part of this, the agritech stakeholders are hoping that the industry would get a part of this corpus.

“This will provide us with a conducive financial environment to further innovate and contribute to the agricultural ecosystem,” said Prashant Vasan, CEO of Madras Mandi.

Further, the government extended certain tax benefits for startups till March 31, 2025 in the Budget, which is expected to help agritech startups as well.

“… the tax-free status for investments by sovereign wealth funds and pension funds for an extra year aligns with our growth strategy, encouraging strategic partnerships and capital infusion into our startup,” Vasan added.

However, the interim budget missed touching a few points. The agritech ecosystem stakeholders believe that there is a dire need for IP-led biotechnology and alternate materials startups in the agriculture sector.

The government should act as the first buyer to provide the necessary credibility required for these startups in global markets, as per Sethi. Further, apart from credit push, the government should also focus on providing large-format credit guarantee schemes.

“This is particularly necessary for companies involved in B2B agri trading. Furthermore, policies to limit buyer credit period to a maximum of 45-60 days need to be strictly institutionalised,” said Omnivore’s Sethi.

The post Interim Budget: What FM Sitharaman’s Announcement Mean For Agritech Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Bengaluru-based dairy tech startup Stellapps is in advanced discussions to raise around $20 Mn in its Series C funding round, Inc42 has learnt.

Almost 70% of the funding will be raised from existing investors, including Celesta Capital, Omnivore, Gates Foundation, IDH Farmfit Fund, Blume Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures.

Confirming the development, Stellapps cofounder and CEO Ranjith Mukundan told Inc42 that a couple of new investors are also likely to participate in the funding round. However, he didn’t disclose the name of the new investors and the valuation at which the startup is looking to raise the funding.

The startup intends to utilise the fresh capital for further expansion, with a special focus on value-added dairy products. 

Founded by IIT alumni and ex-Wipro employees Mukundan, Ravi Shiroor, Ramakrishna Adukuri, Praveen Nale and Venkatesh Seshasayee in 2011, Stellapps provides a full-stack Internet of Things (IoT) platform to digitise and optimise the entire milk supply chain, right from production to procurement and storage. The platform also connects farmers with financial & insurance institutions, cattle nutrition providers, agro-input providers.

Around July last year, the startup also began processing milk to supply value-added dairy products to B2B companies.

The startup currently provides curd, ghee, paneer, buttermilk, double-toned milk, among others, to FMCG brands. It has two processing plants, one in Uttar Pradesh and another in Bengaluru, and is looking to add two more plants.

“We are also considering making ice-cream and selling it under a private label to other businesses,” Mukundan added. 

Responding to a question about choosing the B2B route for its dairy products, Mukundan said that B2C businesses require a lot of capital to create a brand and to acquire customers. 

Stellapps’ IPO Dreams

The dairy tech startup is eyeing an initial public offering in the next 36-48 months, as per the CEO.

“…we’re building our brand towards IPO and (want to) provide our investors a 5X return. We are working towards listing our company at around $450 Mn-$500 Mn valuation during the IPO,” Mukundan added.  

The startup is on track to close the ongoing financial year with revenue of INR 400 Cr and is eyeing a revenue of INR 2,000 Cr in the next three to four years. 

Stellapps last raised an undisclosed amount of funding from IDH FarmFit in 2022, a few months after it raised $18 Mn in its Pre-Series C funding round from global animal nutrition and aquaculture company Nutreco. 

The post Exclusive: Dairy Tech Startup Stellapps In Talks To Raise $20 Mn To Fuel Expansion appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Mumbai-based omnichannel farm-to-fork startup KisanKonnect has raised INR 31 Cr (around $3.7 Mn) as a part of its pre-Series A funding round led by Green Frontier Capital.

The round also saw participation from Dhanuka Agritech Limited, along with VC Grid and other family offices.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to increase its activities in climate-smart agriculture interventions with its 5,000 farmers, strengthen its fresh-produce supply chain technology and add new farm stores to the existing ones in Mumbai and Pune.

Founded in 2020 by Vivek Nirmal and Nidhi Nirmal, KisanKonnect sources food directly from its network of farmers through its village-level collection centres, and with no interference from the middlemen, delivers the produce to the consumers. 

It claims to have a base of more than 1 Lakh customers to whom it sells the products through its own D2C App and farm-stores. 

In addition to the agricultural produce, it also offers preservative-free snacks under its ‘Village Staples’ and ‘Mom’s Kitchen’ categories. 

According to the startup, these are produced exclusively by rural women in centralised kitchens. 

Nirmal said that the startup’s tech-enabled temperature controlled and traceable supply chain helps the farmers to offer fresh produce to the consumers in Mumbai and Pune in the shortest possible time. 

“The wastages are reduced significantly which ensures fair prices for farmers and consumers both, while helping reduce carbon emissions in the Agri supply-chain,” he added. 

Last year, the startup secured an undisclosed amount of investment from actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra. 

Back then Kisankonnect claimed that it manages 1.75 Lakh acres of cultivated land, and offers a wide range of more than 200 types of vegetables and 100 types of fruits online. It also claimed to be delivering approximately 1.5 Lakh boxes of vegetables and fruits per month.

According to Inc42’s analysis, the Indian agritech startups have secured over $2.4 Bn since 2014. 

The post KisanKonnect Raises $3.7 Mn To Boost Its Climate-Smart Agriculture Playbook appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Flipkart-backed Ninjacart saw its operating revenue cross the INR 1,000 Cr mark in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The B2B agritech startup reported sales of INR 1,153.4 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), an increase of 19% from INR 967.3 Cr in FY22. 

The startup primarily earns revenue by selling fresh fruits and vegetables to retailers such as restaurants, shops, and vegetable sellers by sourcing them directly from farmers. Founded in 2015 by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Sharath Loganathan, Sachin Jose, Kartheeswaran KK and Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Ninjacart began operations as a B2C business. However, it later pivoted to the B2B model. 

Total revenue, including other income, stood at INR 1,212.3 Cr during the year under review, an increase of 22.3% from INR 990.9 Cr it recorded in FY22. 

Despite the increase in operating revenue, the startup’s loss rose 6% to INR 326.3 Cr in FY23 from INR 307.9 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Where Did Ninjacart Spend? 

Total expenditure rose 18% to INR 1,538.7 Cr during the year under review from INR 1,299.8 Cr in FY22. 

Procurement Cost: This expense accounted for 71% of Ninjacart’s total expenditure. The startup spent INR 1,087.8 Cr on procurement cost in FY23, a jump of 19% from INR 915.9 Cr in FY22.

Employee Benefit Expenses: The startup spent INR 246.8 Cr to pay employee salary, and other employee benefits. This was an increase of 52% from INR 162.7 Cr it spent in the previous year. This rise is also an indication that the startup might have increased its headcount during the year under review.

Transportation Cost: Ninjacart managed to reduce its transportation cost by 27% to INR 44.1 Cr in FY23 from INR 60.8 Cr it spent in the previous year. Transportation cost is the amount spent by the company to transport the fresh stock.

EBITDA margin for the year under review improved to -26.2% from -28.7% in FY22.

Late last year, the startup entered the Brazilian market through a partnership with Arado, an agribusiness marketplace. Ninjacart has raised over $350 Mn in funding till date and counts marquee names such as Tiger Global, Flipkart, and Accel among its backers. 

Ninjacart competes against the likes of WayCool Foods and FarmLink.

The post Flipkart-Backed Ninjacart’s Sales Cross INR 1,000 Cr Mark In FY23 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

The agriculture sector, crucial for human survival and our planet’s sustenance, is undergoing significant change by embracing advanced technologies to boost productivity, sustainability, and resilience. 

The ever-increasing demand for agritech solutions is influenced by the increased need to manage the impact of climate change, regulatory changes, rising hunger, and consumer demands for healthier food. 

In this context, I’m sharing Cropin’s outlook for what we can anticipate in 2024.

Agri Innovations: A Breakthrough In Climate Action

The world recognises that achieving environmental and climate goals relies on addressing fundamental issues within the food systems. With agriculture contributing over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, utilising 70% of freshwater resources, and employing a quarter of the world’s population, the next few years will witness a surge in agricultural innovations as climate solutions. 

In 2024, a significant shift is anticipated, marked by multi-billion investments in agri-food transformation from international organisations, development agencies, and governments, followed by a proliferation of agritech investments by PE/VC firms to harness the sector’s growth momentum.

Increased Demand For Sustainable Food Systems

In 2024, we’re poised for a significant shift toward sustainable food systems. The catalysts for change are diverse, ranging from the disruptive weather events of 2023, affecting regions globally, to the UN chief’s stark declaration of the onset of a “global boiling” era. 

These events served as wake-up calls for farmers and agribusinesses worldwide, prompting a reevaluation of their operations. For instance, recognising agriculture’s role in greenhouse gas emissions, the industry is now motivated to curb its environmental impact, fostering a collective commitment to building a more sustainable agri-food ecosystem. 

Agriculture is uniquely positioned to transition into a zero-emission industry, potentially evolving into a carbon sink.

Robust Regulatory Environment

We will witness a shift away from greenwashing in the agricultural ecosystem as players embrace more responsible and transparent practices, largely driven by stringent regulations. The EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) is firmly against deforestation, compelling growers and agribusinesses globally to adopt sustainable production methods. 

I expect more countries and regions to introduce similar regulations in 2024, emphasising the agri-food sector’s commitment to achieving Net Zero. These regulations will necessitate technology investments, requiring tangible evidence of reforestation, proper fertiliser applications, mandatory carbon sequestration, and active biodiversity preservation. 

These advancements will present substantial business growth opportunities for agritech players providing solutions in these domains.

Integration Of Human Health And Agricultural Advancements 

In 2024, we’ll see a critical development—the convergence of health demands and agritech innovations, acting as a significant driver for the industry. The increasing consumer preference for healthy foods pushes agri-food companies to shift towards whole/healthy food offerings, supported by favourable global policy environments. 

However, meeting the demand for whole foods in a world with over 8 Bn people poses a challenge. Inefficient global food supply, often perishable, necessitates a robust food supply chain driven by technology. Imagine an open dashboard offering real-time visibility for policymakers globally. 

The U.S. could leverage grain availability in Asia, Europe could track the availability of vegetables in other regions, and African nations could swiftly address food shortages occasionally. Tech-enabled transparency transforms global food systems.

On the other hand, agritech has the potential to offer transparency to both food manufacturers and consumers, providing insights into the origin and production processes of food. Are consumers aware of the cocoa origin in their chocolate, the fertiliser usage on potatoes for chips, or whether they can measure coffee powder adulteration by tracking the product life cycle of the sourced coffee beans? 

This will also aid governments in ensuring citizen health, reducing healthcare costs, and empowering healthcare workers to recommend the right products. The merging of healthcare and Agtech is a powerful and positive industry convergence unfolding in the years to come.

Rise Of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) And Other Emerging Practices

Innovations in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) practices, including vertical farming, polyhouse farming, hydroponics, and other emerging methods like regenerative agriculture, are gaining traction. 

While these practices may take time to become mainstream, especially in smallholder markets, they offer solutions to numerous issues. These solutions encompass addressing challenges such as the ageing farming community in markets like Japan, achieving food self-reliability in regions like the Middle East, mitigating climate risks globally, and preserving biodiversity. 

I anticipate agribusinesses, non-profits, and development agencies to lead the charge in driving these transformative initiatives in agriculture globally.

The post Agri-Food Predictions For 2024 appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Dairytech startup Country Delight seems to be kicking off the new year with a  bridge round, before striking for a bigger fundraise.

The Delhi-NCR based startup is raising around $20 Mn (INR 164 Cr) from its existing investors – Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, Venturi Partners and others.

The board of CountryDelight has passed a resolution to allot around 78K Pre-Series E CCPS (Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares) to Temasek, Venturi Partners and its other existing investors. Inc42 has reviewed the document. 

As per Inc42’s estimate, the startup is raising the fresh round at a valuation of around $758 Mn. In its last $108 Mn Series D funding round, it was valued at $615 Mn.

There is also a possibility that the funding round could increase with more investors coming onboard.

Founded in 2013 by Chakradhar Gade and Nitin Kaushal, Country Delight follows a subscription-based model where it sources milk from farmers and delivers it to customers’ doorsteps. Besides this, it supplies bread, ghee, other dairy products, fruits and vegetables.

To date, the startup has raised close to $158 Mn (excluding the ongoing funding round) across multiple rounds. It counts Temasek, Matrix Partners, Orios Ventures and Elevation Capital as among its marquee investors.

The startup in FY22 saw its net loss surge over 6X to INR 186.4 Cr from INR 28.2 Cr, whereas the revenue from operations increased by over 1.7X to INR 542.6 Cr. 

It is pertinent to mention that the startup generates revenue from sale of milk and other products like curd, paneer (cottage cheese), ghee, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and coconut water.

Last year, Gade while speaking at Inc42’s D2C Summit said that the startup will soon turn profitable. 

“We are currently an almost $200 Mn revenue company, and the business is growing at 5-7% month-on-month. We are on the clear path to profitability in the next 8-10 months,” Gade said while speaking at the fourth edition of Inc42’s D2C summit.

However, the startup is yet to file its FY23 financials.

Country Delight, besides competing against major traditional players such as Mother Dairy, Nandini, and Amul, also competes against new-age players such as Odisha-based Milk Mantra, and Reliance-acquired Milk Basket.

The post Exclusive: Country Delight To Raise $20 Mn From Temasek, Others appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Agritech startup Fasal has raised Series A funding of INR 100 Cr ($12 Mn) led by TDK Ventures and British International Investment (BII).

The round also saw participation from ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Navam Capital and Aureolis Ventures, along with existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners, Genting Ventures and The Yield Labs Asia Pacific.

Fasal will use the fresh capital to scale up and expand its B2B brand Fasal Fresh and branching out its operations both into India and Southeast Asia.

Besides, the proceeds will also be deployed for advanced research and development in its proprietary farm IoT-crop (Internet of Things) intelligence technology and the development of a carbon-negative horticulture value chain.

Founded by Shailendra Tiwari and Ananda Verma in 2018, Fasal is a precision horticulture platform that leverages AI, crop sciences and IOT to provide farm-level, crop-specific and crop-stage-specific intelligence to enable resource optimisation (water, pesticides, etc) and higher farm productivity while procuring the high quality, traceable produce for an end-to-end optimised value chain play.

Under its Fasal Fresh, it procures farm produce to secure the best market rates for farmers while optimising the supply chain play.

In 2021, the startup raised $4 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round led by 3one4 Capital with participation from Omnivore and Wavemaker Partners.

“With this capital infusion, we plan to expand Fasal’s presence from 75,000 acres to 500,000 acres and enable our technology to deliver more to our farmers by providing them access to sustainable crop inputs, farm-level crop insurance, and working capital at lower interest rates. We will provide our buyers with sustainably grown, high quality, and traceable horticulture produce by further diversifying and strengthening our B2B brand ‘Fasal Fresh’,” said Tiwari.

“These funds will amplify our exclusive farm IoT-Crop intelligence technology, reshaping the farming landscape. We envision a data-driven behavioral change where each byte contributes to sculpting the future of agriculture. From predicting optimal harvest times to establishing a sustainable, traceable supply chain, this investment propels us into a future where science, technology, and agriculture seamlessly intertwine,” said Verma.

Fasal’s funding comes at a time when India’s agri space is witnetbssing a paradigm shift. Agriculture in the country has traditionally relied on outdated tools and is frequently susceptible to the unpredictability of weather conditions. However, agritech startups are revolutionising the landscape by leveraging various new-age technologies. As a result, the sector has been gaining a lot of traction from several investors for quite some time now.

For instance, last week, agritech startup Vegrow marked the final close of its Series C funding round with $46 Mn in a mix of primary and secondary infusions.

Prior to that, in September, another agritech startup Ergos raised $10 Mn via a mix of equity and debt financing in its Series B round.

The post Agritech Startup Fasal Raises $12 Mn To Fortify Its B2B Brand Fasal Fresh, R&D appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Chifu Agritech Pvt Ltd, which operates business-to-business (B2B) fruits marketplace Vegrow, has marked the final close of its Series C funding round in a mix of primary and secondary infusions.

The new fundraise of $46 Mn (around INR 383 Cr) was led by Singapore-based GIC, marking its maiden bet on India’s agritech space. Existing investors Prosus Ventures, Matrix Partners India, Elevation Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the round.

The Bengaluru-based startup will use the fresh capital to expand its India footprint and fortify its global network.

The secondary round provided a complete exit to many of the angel investors in the startup, while Ankur Capital, Titan Capital and Better Capital partially exited the startup.

Founded by Praneeth Kumar, Mrudhukar Batchu, Kiran Naik and Shobhit Jain in 2020, Vegrow offers a range of tech solutions such as crop advisory, grading, packaging, logistics and sales to farmers to help them cope with supply chain challenges.

“Through the extensive utilisation of data and technology, we provide valuable insights and optimise supply chain challenges, such as reducing perishable inventory wastage to only one-fourth of the industry average and consistently achieving industry-leading profit margins,” said Batchu.

Vegrow works on the idea of streamlining the highly fragmented and localised fruit cultivation ecosystem, which is characterised by the involvement of multiple intermediaries facilitating transactions. By leveraging tech and data, the company aims to maximise farmers’ income by accurately grading produce and efficiently matching it with the most suitable demand channel, it said in a statement on Wednesday (December 13). 

The startup claims to have witnessed a five-fold increase in revenue and achieved operational profitability over the last year. 

In July last year, the startup raised $25 Mn funding in Series B funding round led by Prosus Ventures to expand its geographic presence, develop its tech stack and hire across multiple positions. 

The latest development comes at a time when the agritech landscape in the country is buzzing with activities. While farming in the country is largely dependent on use of archaic tools and often impacted by the vagaries of weather, agritech startups are trying to change the situation through the use of technology. This has also attracted interest from investors as well as corporates.

For instance, in September, agritech startup Ergos raised $10 Mn through a mix of equity and debt in its Series B funding round. The round was led by Norway-based Abler Nordic, and existing investors such as Aavishkaar Capital, Chiratae Ventures and Trifecta Venture Debt Fund.

In the same month, full-stack agritech startup Leads Connect raised INR 500 Cr ($62.5 Mn) from FMCG major BL Agro Industries. BL Agro is expected to infuse funds over a span of three years, eventually acquiring a controlling stake in the startup.

As per Inc42 data, homegrown agritech startups secured $2.1 Bn between 2014 and May 2023.

The post Agritech Startup Vegrow Raises $46 Mn From GIC, Others To Expand Presence appeared first on Inc42 Media.

Tech-enabled innovation has become crucial for sustainable growth and efficiency in the agricultural landscape. India’s agritech sector is booming with startups building innovative solutions to revolutionise agriculture.

However, the journey from ideation to implementation requires substantial financial backing. This is where Agricultural Non-Banking Financial Companies (Agri NBFCs) come into play serving as integral enablers for these ventures.

Agricultural Financing Landscape 

Agritech startups have unique business models focused on increasing productivity, efficiency, and transparency across the agricultural value chain. India’s agritech sector is projected to grow to $24 Bn by 2025. However, their innovative solutions come with execution risks that make banks and other institutional lenders hesitant.

Agri NBFCs are strategically filling this financing gap. Their specialised sectoral expertise allows for more customised risk evaluation and products like revenue-based financing. 

By understanding the unique challenges faced by startups, these financial entities are becoming strategic partners in the growth journey of agritech ventures. NBFCs ability to offer quick and flexible financial solutions allows startups to focus on research, development, and implementation rather than being bogged down by financial constraints.

Employing Risk Mitigation Strategies

Over 1300 agriculture startups In India are actively using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), and other technologies to boost efficiency and productivity in the sector. By their very nature, agritech startups carry significant business risks given their exposure to agri value chain disruptions. 

Managing risks across such a fragmented landscape requires localised knowledge and tailored solutions. Agri NBFCs mitigate these risks through calibrated capital infusion aligned with milestones, extensive due diligence of promoter credentials, and deep sectoral knowledge to identify viable business models. Revenue-based financing models with variable repayments as per cashflows also ensure risk sharing. 

The regulatory push for priority sector lending is also expanding the role of Agri NBFCs. Still nascent, the agritech financing space offers immense potential for growth and impact.

Empowering Farmers Through Simplified Financing

With approximately 70% of small and marginal farmers deprived of formal credit, digital lending can transform access. Agri startups, in collaboration with Agri NBFCs, are playing a crucial role in empowering farmers. 

By establishing digitised systems and ensuring a hassle-free application and approval process, these initiatives simplify access to loans for farmers. This not only fosters financial inclusion but also contributes to the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. 

Easy access to funds can be used for machinery and equipment, cutting-edge irrigation techniques, and other elements of the agricultural value chain. Farmers can invest in modern technologies and practices that enhance productivity, reduce environmental impact, and improve overall livelihoods.

Using alternative credit evaluation models based on agricultural cash flows and digital data, digital lending platforms by NBFCs are providing faster approval and disbursal. This tech integration not only enhances the efficiency of loan disbursals but also facilitates a more accurate evaluation of risk, enabling Agri NBFCs to make informed lending decisions. 

This in turn, makes obtaining funds easier for farmers, especially for those deprived of institutional credit. It delivers significant socio-economic benefits while advancing financial inclusion.

The operations of Agri NBFCs and their role in fostering innovation are greatly shaped by the regulatory environment. India’s Budget 2022-23 includes measures to support ‘digital agriculture,’ and there are plans to introduce a fund with blended capital aimed at financing startups in agriculture and rural enterprises, particularly those emphasising the farm-produce value chain. This initiative is expected to open up favorable financing options for agritech ventures.

The Road Ahead

The future of agritech financing is poised for significant transformations. Agri NBFCs are expected to witness substantial growth as more startups enter the space. Emerging financial models, such as revenue-based financing and impact investing, are likely to gain prominence. Additionally, advancements in financial technology will continue to shape the landscape, making financing more accessible and efficient for agritech startups.

Technology integration through digital platforms and big data analytics will continue reshaping the agricultural financing landscape making credit accessible to all stakeholders, especially farmers. With the growing convergence of agritech and financing, data-based credit evaluation models can expand financial inclusion for Indian farmers in the coming years. 

The post Unlocking Agri Innovation: The Role Of Agri NBFCs In Financing Agritech Startups appeared first on Inc42 Media.