Interesting funding alert- An agritech startup announced a funding of USD 60 million
Agriculture+ Technology= Agritech. Another rising field changing the picture of old and traditional agriculture of our country.
Let us talk about agritech industry. Generally talking, agritech means the involvement of technology in the domain of agriculture and its subsidiaries like horticulture, aquaculture, and whatnot. The involvement of technology is solely for the purpose of improving the yield, efficiency, and which eventually will improve the profitability.
Now, if we talk about what an agritech startup is? An agritech startup is the type of an e-commerce platform that has the potential and the capability to make a significant shift from the agricultural markets that are controlled by the government to the digital markets that are driven by demand.
These startups include the sustainable methods of farming and which also bring an innovation on the table. If technology does not bring innovation along with it, then what is the benefit of using it? Right?
Now coming to the agritech industry of our country, the overall growth of the Indian agritech industry has been 85% during the Financial Year 2019-2020. According to the 200-page study of Ernst and Young, the potential of the agritech market is to reach USD 24 billion by the year 2025.
A study by Bain and Company says that the potential of the Indian agritech market is to reach USD 35 billion by the year 2025. We are nowadays seeing that there is an increased penetration of internet in the country, and the rural areas are the primary drivers of this growth.
Let us now talk about the funding of the agritech startup that has taken place recently.
Announcement of funding of the agritech startup
The startup, Arya.ag, has raised funds worth USD 60 million, as announced on January 18, 2022. This round of funding that has taken place was the Series C round of funding and was led by Asia Impact SA. The other participants of this round of funding were Light rock India, and Quona Capital.
Out of the total funds raised, USD 46 million has been raised in the form of equity investment where as the remaining USD 14 million has been raised as debt from the investors like US Development Finance Corporation (USDFC) and Responsibility, and a development finance institution which is based in Geneva.
The startup plans to use the funds raised in the expansion of the warehouses, strengthening its employee base, and enhancing and spreading its technology. The value of the startup after this round of funding has increased to USD 300 million. The startup before this round of funding, in December 2020, had raised USD 21 million. That round of funding that had taken place was the Series B round of funding.
In March 2020, the startup had raised USD 6 million. That round of funding was the pre-Series B round of funding and the Series A round of funding of the startup had taken place in December 2016. The startup is now in talks to raise USD 100 million with the aim to give a push to its further ambitions of growth.
About the agritech startup that has announced its funding
The startup was founded in the year 2013 by Chattanathan Devarajan, Prasanna Rao and Chandra and is based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The startup is an integrated grain platform that is focused on providing post-harvest services. The startup is engaged in providing storage, warehousing, and finance solutions to the farmers. The startup is also planning to begin its offering in logistics and insurance as well.
The startup has its operations in 425 districts in 21 states of the country and has around 10000 warehouses. The grain the startup holds is worth USD 3 billion and has disbursed USD 600 million of finance on yearly basis. The current annual revenue rate of the startup is INR 300 crore.
The startup was originally a part of the JM Baxi Group but in the year 2013 the co-founders of the startup took up the controlling stake in the startup. The other investors of the startup are Quona Capital, LGT Lightstone Aspada, and Omnivore.
What has been said about the deal?
Prasanna Rao, who is the co-founder of the startup made a statement saying that the startup is now aiming to reach to the revenue of INR 1000 crore in the next 24 months.
Matteo Pusineri, who is the director of Asia Impact SA, made a comment which said that throughout the pandemic period, the transformation of the startup has been seen. He further said that the startup will help in fulfilling the vision of Asia Impact to integrate farming communities which belong to the rural and underserved areas across Asia to the markets at scale.
Vaidehi Ravindran, who is the partner at Light rock India said that the startup has been successful in building a platform that is strong and profitable in the last few years. She even said that the startup has a good marketplace and thus is in a period of high growth and impact.
Varun Malhotra, who is the partner at Quona Capital, made a statement which said that that the startup has bridged the gap in the post-harvest-agri transactions. This the startup has been able to do through complete transparency, and confirmation and assurance on quality, quantity, and payments.
The startup is definitely bringing a change in the agricultural industry. We wish the startup good luck and hope that it continues making an impact and change in the coming future ahead!
Edited and published by Ashlyn
