Unnati Agri raises new round

Unnati Agri, an agriculture supply chain and financial services startup, has raised Rs 28.5 crore led by the family office of IPL Biologicals. The round also witnessed the participation of existing investors, including Incofin Investment Management, Nabventure, and Orios.

The proceeds will be deployed to focus on sustainable and climate-ready products and expand its product line by having a joint go to market arrangement with IPL Biologicals, Unnati Agri stated in a press release.

Unnati Agri had earlier raised $8 million in its Series A round co-led by Incofin Investment Management, Nabventure, and Orios in November 2021.

Founded in 2017 by former Paytm Mall chief operating officer Amit Sinha and Ashok Prasad, Unnati Agri describes itself as a ‘fintech-based agri platform’. Its services include pre and post-harvest services, and working creditline, among others. Farmers can also purchase agricultural supplies on Unnati, and sell their produce directly to connected food processors and agribusinesses.

According to Unnati Agri, it has been committed to minimising the risks in agriculture through the use of its technology that eventually helps improve farm productivity and also mitigate risks emanating from the effects of climate change and help drive more sustainable farming.

Unnati aims to grow stronger by expanding its network to reach more farmers as it targets to serve 5 million farmers. It claims to serve more than 1.2 million farmers through its network of more than 75,000 stores.

For the fiscal year FY23, Unnati recorded a 150% jump in its revenue to Rs 398 crore. The company managed to control expenses and its losses grew only 29% to Rs 12 crore in the previous fiscal year. It competes with B2B marketplace and retail platform Jumbotail which neared Rs 380 crore in revenue and HeroMotoCorp-backed AgroStar which crossed Rs 250 crore in revenue in FY22.