Monday August 5, 2024, National: Agri-processing platform Agrizy announced today that it has raised USD 9.8 million (INR 82 crores) in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Accion and Omnivore, with participation from Capria Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, and existing investor Ankur Capital.
India’s $400 billion agri-processing market, though growing 9% annually, faces a bottleneck: only 10% of farm produce gets processed today. This pales in comparison to global leaders like China (40%) and developed nations (~70%). India has more than 2 million food processing MSMEs, which operate significantly under capacity and struggle to find B2B customers, especially in export markets.
Agrizy is helping to solve these challenges, providing MSMEs with a fully managed B2B marketplace for agrifood supply chains and processing. The platform connects every stakeholder in the agrifood processing ecosystem to optimally discover and fulfill transactions. The startup works closely with agrifood processing MSMEs, offering them a suite of digital services to generate additional long-term revenues and improve their operating margins, while streamlining their procurement and sales cycles.
Agrizy was co-founded in 2021 by Vicky Dodani and Saket Chirania, who previously worked in senior roles with leading Indian startups including Blackbuck, Bizongo, and Zoomcar. With the new funding, Agrizy aims to expand into new product areas and geographies; launch CDMO and value-added advisory services; and offer financial services to MSME processors and farmer-producer organizations (FPOs).
Vicky Dodani, Co-founder and CEO at Agrizy, said, “Agrizy aims to transform India into a global food processing hub by helping FPOs and MSME agri-processors access export markets and comply with global quality standards, while offering these underserved stakeholders working capital from formal financial institutions. The current investment will empower Agrizy to actively drive these crucial initiatives in both local and global markets.”
John Fischer, Chief Investment Officer at Accion, said: “Agrizy is seeking to reshape traditional agri-processing by providing a robust marketplace and support to improve production. The company aims to also address the lack of quality financing for small processors and the Farmer Producer Organizations that supply them, helping to increase incomes in rural communities. Through our partnership with Agrizy, we will leverage Accion’s global expertise to help the company grow, connecting many processors and smallholder farmers to responsible financial services and formal markets for the first time.”
Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, stated, “We are proud of our partnership with Agrizy and their vision of upgrading the Indian agri-processing sector. The company’s foray into contract manufacturing is critical for streamlining intricate, export-oriented supply chains. By prioritizing innovation and sustainability, Agrizy is positioning India’s food processing industry to meet evolving global market needs.”
About Agrizy
Agrizy is India’s fastest-growing B2B agri-processing platform, driving supply chain efficiency and MSME profitability. To learn more about Agrizy, please visit https://agrizy.in/.
About Accion
Accion is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy for the nearly two billion people who are failed by the global financial system. We develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives. Through targeted investment strategies, advisory solutions, and expert thought leadership, we work with local partners to develop and scale cheaper, more accessible, and customer-friendly financial solutions. Since 1961, Accion has helped build 267 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 75 countries, reaching 440 million people. More at https://www.accion.org.
About Omnivore
Omnivore is an impact venture capital firm which supports visionary founders advancing agrifood resilience, driving rural transformation, and catalyzing climate action across India and Southeast Asia. To learn more about Omnivore, please visit https://www.omnivore.vc/.
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Media contact
Thessa Mooij
media@accion.org
Director of Public Relations