New Delhi
Arya.ag, India’s largest integrated grain commerce platform, announced on January 18 the close of its Series C round, having raised USD 60 million in a mix of equity and debt. 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.
Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya’s co-founder, said, “We have visibility on grains worth over USD 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.”
“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.”
“We are excited about our continued partnership with Arya as they build the largest grain platform in the country,” said Vaidhehi Ravindran, partner at Lightrock India. “They have built a strong and profitable foundation over the last few years, and with the addition of the marketplace are in a period of accelerated growth and impact.”
“At Quona, we believe long-term structural changes can be accelerated by introducing more transparency,” said Varun Malhotra, partner at Quona Capital. “Arya’s unparalleled reach across rural India, coupled with its tech-driven integrated service model, has made it one of the fastest-growing agri-commerce platforms in India.”
Arya.ag connects sellers and buyers of agri-produce, providing complete assurance on quantity, quality and payments. The platform eliminates 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.