Agritech platform Arya.ag raises $60 million in Series C

Arya.ag, an agritech start-up which claims to be India’s largest integrated grain commerce platform, has raised $60 million in a Series C round, in a mix of equity and debt raise. The equity round was led by Asia Impact SA, Lightrock India and Quona Capital. The agritech platform also raised debt financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), among others. The company intends to use the funding to capture 20 per cent of the $100 billion grain commerce market. Arya.ag connects sellers and buyers of agricultural produce, providing complete assurance on quantity, quality and payments. The platform claims to eliminate distress sales of farmers’ produce by enabling farmgate storage and seamless finance options, offering farmers the freedom of when and whom to sell to. With visibility into over 10,000 commodity storage points across the country, Arya assures year-round supply to SME and corporate buyers with embedded financing options. “We have visibility on grains worth over $2 billion on the Arya platform, and this number is growing rapidly as we gather data from warehouses around the country. This funding round will help us gain market share for our core offerings and add more services to consolidate our position as India’s most trusted platform in agriculture. We believe that these partnerships, old and new, are an endorsement of Arya’s strength to drive penetration and lead transformation within the sector,” said Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya’s co-founder. “Through the pandemic, we have seen Arya transform agri-commerce across India,” said Matteo Pusineri, director of Asia Impact SA. “Arya will help accomplish Asia Impact's vision to integrate rural under-served farming communities across Asia to markets at scale. We are confident that Arya, under the leadership of Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Chattanathan Devarajan, will greatly contribute to a unique ecosystem supporting the sustainable growth story of rural India,” Pusineri added.