NABARD Announces 750 Crore ‘Agri SURE’ Fund to Boost Agri Start-Ups and Rural Enterprises

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) unveiled its ambitious ‘Agri-SURE’ fund at a prelaunch stakeholder meet in Mumbai. This new initiative, managed by NABVENTURES, a NABARD subsidiary, aims to bolster agri start-ups and rural enterprises with a substantial corpus of Rs 750 Crore.

The fund is a collaborative effort, pooling Rs 250 Crore each from NABARD, the Ministry of Agriculture, and other contributing institutions. The event saw the participation of key figures including A K Sahu, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shaji K.V., Chairman, NABARD, Goverdhan Singh Rawat, DMD, NABARD, and Dr. Ajay Kumar Sood, DMD, NABARD.

Supporting Innovation in Agriculture

The Agri-SURE fund is structured to support approximately 85 start-ups, offering investment sizes of up to Rs 25 Crore each. It aims to promote investment in innovative, technology-driven, high-risk, and high-impact activities within agriculture and related sectors. The fund's focus areas include enhancing the farm produce value chain, creating new rural ecosystem linkages, generating employment, and supporting Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs).

A K Sahu, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said, “The broader objective of this initiative is to address the flailing issues for agri and rural sector. We need innovation and technology to ensure the last-mile delivery of resources. Most of our farmers hold small piece of land, in this ecosystem we need to focus on enhancing productivity, this is where technology can play a crucial role. We need to foster an ecosystem for systematic mechanization to achieve our objectives. Agri-SURE is a big leap in that direction. With the help of this fund, we aim to support startups to provide us with innovative and sustainable solutions”

Shaji K.V. highlighted the importance of digitalization in agriculture, stating, “Digitalization of agriculture is the call of the hour to enhance the agri value chain as the next wave of growth will come from innovation. Fintech innovation in agriculture is one of the important aspects of last-mile connectivity with minimum expenses. Farmers are the foundation of the agri value and they need to be handled very closely and provided with solutions. Credit alone will not solve the problem in the Agriculture sector. The next level of growth will come from innovations that need to be co-partnered by Public and Private Institutions. With this fund, we aim to support early-stage innovators and help farmers with viable, sustainable and durable tech solutions.”

AgriSURE Greenathon 2024

In line with its commitment to fostering innovation, NABARD also launched the AgriSURE Greenathon 2024. This hackathon aims to address three key problem statements: "Smart Agriculture on a Budget," "Turning Agri-Waste into Profitable Business Opportunities," and "Tech Solutions Making Regenerative Agriculture Remunerative."

The prelaunch stakeholder meeting attracted representatives from banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, AIFs, and startups in the agricultural sector, underscoring the collaborative effort to promote sustainable rural development and economic growth.

NABARD's call to young innovators to contribute to the nation's progress towards a ‘Vikasit Bharat’ (Developed India) aims to tackle the pressing challenges in agriculture with creative and sustainable solutions.