Samunnati Secures ₹381 Cr in Series E Funding, Fuels Inclusive Growth in Agri Sector

Samunnati, India’s leading agri enterprise empowering agricultural value chains, has successfully secured INR 42.5 Crore in Series E equity funding from Agri-Biz Capital Delaware LLC. This equity infusion is the first for FY 2025-26 and takes the total Pre-Series E equity raised till date to more than INR 381 crore.

This strategic investment from Agri-Biz Capital Delaware LLC. significantly enhances Samunnati’s capital base and further strengthens the overall financial position of the Samunnati Group. Agri-Biz Capital Delaware LLC is one of Samunnati’s long-term partners, along with other marquee investors like Nuveen, Accel, Elevar Equity, Equitane and responsAbility and others who have backed Samunnati’s differentiated model and long-term growth trajectory.

The fresh infusion underscores the strong investor confidence in Samunnati’s integrated approach that combines financial services, market linkages, and advisory support to unlock value for smallholder farmers, farmer collectives and agri-enterprises alike.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Anil Kumar SG, Founder of Samunnati, said, "This infusion of capital validates the strength of our unique model that blends financial, market, and advisory services. As we move toward Samunnati 2.0, our focus is on catalyzing an inclusive agri ecosystem that brings markets closer to farmers, creating enduring value across the agricultural value chain. We are excited about what lies ahead and remain deeply committed to enabling prosperity for those who nurture our food systems.”

Last financial year, the company had successfully secured total funding of INR 1,158 crore from a set of diverse institutions like USDFC, Credit Saison, Tata Capital, Poonawalla Fincorp, Hinduja Leyland Finance, Wint Wealth, Altifi, Alteria Capital, and Anicut Capital.

With its robust financial foundation, a rapidly expanding network of lending partners, and an unwavering commitment to empowering stakeholders across agri-value chains, Samunnati is playing a pivotal role in transforming India’s agricultural ecosystem. By facilitating greater access to finance, fostering innovation, and enabling inclusive growth, it continues to drive long-term, sustainable change in the Indian Agriculture sector.

The Resurgence Towards the New Normal Has Begun, Say Experts at the Economic Times Global Business Summit 2022

Business Wire India
The world is at the cusp of a major transformation technology and positively disruptive innovations accelerating the march towards the new normal that will have a significant bearing on both old economy legacy businesses as well trail blazing startups.

This was the overarching theme at the two-day Global Business Summit, the most important event on the annual calendar for The Times Group, which concluded on March 12.

The deliberations this year, held virtually, is centred on the theme ‘The Great Resurgence: Now, Next & Beyond’ that encompasses a post-pandemic and rapidly evolving geo-political calculus, the disruption in economies and the path to the new normal, an accelerated move towards sustainability, better governance and tech-led innovations for the future.

"It is our belief at the 184-year-old Times Group that together we can embrace every crisis as an opportunity to craft a different and better future," said Vineet Jain, Managing Director, BCCL.
 
Prominent national and international figures discussed ideas and actions for the future of the country. GBS 2022, which is in its seventh edition, is a one-of-a-kind gathering that celebrates the present and anticipates the future. Since its inception in 2015, GBS has emerged as South Asia’s premier meeting place for global thought leaders.

It is the most anticipated brainstorming session in the world of news and current affairs. It is a celebration of India, and also a statement of the truism about India as the strongest engine for global growth.

Union minister of Commerce and Industry Mr Piyush Goyal offered a deep perspective on “Enabling Greater Prosperity through FTAs”. Mr Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc, gave an insight on “Adapting to the New Normal,” while Mr Punit Renjen, Global CEO, Deloitte spoke about “India’s Promise and Potential”.

Mr Flatt, CEO, Brookfield Asset Management, gave an idea about “Private Capital: How the Playbook has Changed”; Mr Alfred R Kelly Jr., Chairman and CEO, Visa Inc., talked about the “Future of Money”, Mr Evan Speigel, CEO and co-Founder, Snap Inc gave an insight on “Chasing Growth: From Content to Commerce”, Mr Ted Sarandos co-CEO and Chief Content Officer, Netflix,  spoke about “Setting the New Entertainment Agenda”, Mr Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-Founder, upGrad.com offered a perspective on “EdTech: Repurposing Purpose”.

Dr Alka Mittal, CMD ONGC, Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson and CEO, Salesforce India, Mr Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce, Mr Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric, and Ms Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals, discussed new ideas and frontiers about “Creating Sustainable Business”, while Mr Glenn Fogel, President and CEO, Booking Holdings talked about the “Travel Industry-From Shock to Surge”.

Mr Werner Baumann, CEO, Bayer AG, spoke about “ESG: The Next Big Leap”, Mr Bill Winters, Group CEO, Standard Chartered Plc, talked about “Reimagining Modern Finance”, while Mr Rajeev Misra, CEO, Softbank Vision Fund, spoke about “Indian Unicorns: Next Big Thing or Next Bubble?”, Mr Tony Douglas, CEO, Etihad Aviation Group, gave an insight on “Net Zero Aviation: Is it a Distant Reality”, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, United Arab Emirates talked about “Leveraging Technology and Cutting Edge Innovation to Build new Economic Initative”, while Mr Gopichand P Hinduja, co-Chairman, Hinduja Group talked about whether “Is it the Right Time to Invest in India?”.

On Day 2, Ms Meenakashi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture of India, began the proceedings in an opening keynote address “India and the Great Powers”.

Mr Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, who delivered the concluding speech of the summit, gave a perspective on the positive multiplier effects of development, particularly of infrastructure projects that the government is focusing on.

Shantanu Narayen, Chairman & CEO, Adobe talked about *Shaping the Digital Revolution”, Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Airbnb Tourism gave an insight on “Riding the Recovery Wave”, Warren East CBE, Chief Executive, Rolls-Royce Plc, talked about creating a “Towards a Resilient and Sustainable Future”,  while Bill Ford, Chairman and CEO, General Atlantic gave an insight on “Private Equity in 2022: Risks and Opportunities”.

Ashwin Yardi, CEO – India, Capgemini, offered a perspective on “The future Business Landscape: Innovation with new-age Talent”, Mark Read, CEO, WPP, talked about “Building Better Futures, Rich Lesser, Global Chairman, BCG, gave an insight on “Strategy in The Face of Discontinuity”, while Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India and Lingraju Sawkar, President, Kyndryl India, offered a deep insights “Partnership for Growth”.

Hironori Kamezawa, Member of the Board of Directors and President and Group CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) offered an outlook on Empowering Asia’s Digital Shift, Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Bank, gave an insight on “Riding the Disruption Wave”, Paul Perreault, CEO & MD, CSL gave a sneak peek on “What’s Ahead for Biotech – Another Wave or Low Tide?”, and Johnny LYU, Co-Founder and CEO, KuCoin, sought to answer the question “Crypto: The Future of Finance or a Fad?”.
 
Kyndryl is the presenting partner of the summit. It is co-powered by Capgemini. GfK is the intelligence partner, Samunnati and Paxfaul are associate partners, ET Edge Insights is the knowledge partner of the summit and is brought by ET Edge Unwired.

Madhushri Verma, Lead PR and Corporate Communications Samunnati is Selected as India's Regional PR Awards 40 under 40 2021

Prior to this, Miss Verma was associated with DriveU, KisanKraft and Medibox

Madhushri Verma, Lead PR and Corporate Communications Samunnati is selected as India's Regional PR Awards 40 under 40 2021 under the category Leading PR Campaign for Startups.

IRPRA 40 under 40 awards were announced keeping in mind the due recognition that the regional PR deserves. IRPRA awards were broadly classified into 8 categories namely Award for excellence in CSR, Leading PR campaign for Start-ups category amongst others. The first edition of IRPRA witnessed applications from over 24 states and 360 applicants from the country. These awards are a medium to appraise and acknowledge the commendable job these PR professionals have performed over the years.

Madhushri has 7.5+ years of experience in PR and communications. She holds a master’s degree in public relations from University of Bedfordshire and undergraduate degree from media and communications and is presently associated with Samunnati, a specialized Agri Value Chain Enabler. Ms. Verma joined Samunnati in the beginning of 2020, in her current role, Madhushri oversee the entire gamut of PR/ Comms of Samunnati Finance and Samunnati Agro.
Madhushri is a communications professional with a proven expertise in public relations, corporate communication, internal communication, strategy management and brand reputation management. Prior to Samunnati, she has worked with DriveU, Medibox and Kisankraft.

Agri Value Chain Enabler Samunnati Crosses the $1 Billion Milestone in Lending and Market Linkages

Since its inception in 2014, agri value chain enabler Samunnati has been working on its mission of making markets work for smallholder farmers by taking agri value chains to a higher equilibrium. As per the earnings reported on June 30, 2021, Samunnati has crossed the $1 billion (INR 7,500 crore) milestone, deploying the sum by way of lending and market linkages to their customers and partners.

Equitable growth and prosperity for the agricultural ecosystem has been Samunnati’s key focus, as they strive to build a more inclusive agricultural value chain through their AMLA approach (Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory Services.) Till date, the startup has worked with more than 1,500 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in India which in turn touch the lives of nearly 6-million-member farmers through their extensive FPO network. Further, they have worked on enabling the demand side of the value chain, with over 1000 Agri-Enterprises ranging from district-level aggregators to some of India’s largest business conglomerates. Samunnati currently has a presence in over 100 agri value chains across 22 states in the country.

Recognising the significance of market linkages to increase value for the smallholder farmers, Samunnati, through Samunnati Agro Solutions has been connecting buyers and sellers. They have enabled Farmer Development Centres (FDCs) across 40 locations in India that facilitate input and output intermediation for FPOs. They also have Krishi Value Hubs (KVH) and Samunnati Agro Centres (SAC) that act as hubs for value addition, processing, and packaging of agri-produce for a cluster of FPOs. Their initial batch of 5 KVH hubs service over 7000 member-farmers. Recently, on June 23, Samunnati launched India’s First Open Agri Network FPOnEXT - an exclusive affiliation programme for FPOs. The network aims to enable FPOs and the ecosystem to go to the next level, by providing access to financial solutions, market linkages, value added services, technology interventions and other on-tap services.

Samunnati recognises the role of innovation and technology in strengthening the agricultural sector and the need to diffuse these solutions for the benefit of smallholder farmers. Last year, Samunnati launched Agri Elevate, and Samaarambh, to actively collaborate with innovators, supporting access to farmer network for deploying their solutions, market linkages and access to credit for these entities. They already have over 300 agri start-ups registered on Samaarambh platform and a field-level relationship with nearly 50 of them.

In an era where the dependence on agriculture is growing to feed a booming population, leveraging innovation to boost farm productivity, and enabling Climate Smart Agriculture is of paramount importance. Recognising the significance of driving sustainable farming practices in the Indian ecosystem, earlier this year, Samunnati collaborated with a leading Hyderabad-based Agritech startup Kheyti, to deliver an innovative and affordable greenhouse-in-a-box solution which will help enhance the income levels of over 1 lakh farmers. Similarly, Samunnati also acquired a Delhi-based agri logistics and supply chain startup Kamatan Farm Tech to bring the last-mile benefits of digitalisation to FPOs and agri enterprises.

Commenting on the milestone, Ani Kumar S G, Founder and CEO said “ The $1 billion mark is a significant milestone in our journey to enable the agri value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. We are grateful to our customers, partners, stakeholders and above all, the farmers for their unstinting faith and support over the past years. We are blessed to have an enabling cohort of investors, lenders and other stakeholders who have encouraged us to move forward on our mission. We strive to make agriculture profitable and sustainable for the millions of smallholder farmers that ensure our nation's food security. We will continue to forge ahead on our mission of making markets work for 50 million farmers by 2025.”

Specialized Agri Value Chain Enabler Samunnati Raises Debt Fund of $4.6 Mn from Symbiotics

Symbiotics launches first 100% agricultural Green Bond in India with Samunnati

30th July, 2021 : Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged with Samunnati, a specialised agri value chain enabler its first Green Bond whereby the proceeds of USD 4.6 million in local currency equivalent are fully allocated towards climate smart agriculture.

Since its inception in 2014, Samunnati’s mission has been to support smallholder farmers by removing inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Samunnati provides short-term loans to farmer producer organisations, community business organisations and agri-enterprises.

With the issuance of this Green Bond Samunnati has committed itself towards the promotion of climate smart agricultural practices by its loan borrowers. Both green and social practices are cemented within the heart of the company displayed by its staff, as well as policies and frameworks.

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO at Samunnati said: “Samunnati is working with FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 22 states in India. We are delighted to partner with Symbiotics on our first Green Bond.This will help us further offer customized financial solutions to entities interested in adopting climate smart and green solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the agri value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium. The Green Bond will enable Samunnati to strengthen the climate resilience across agri-sector, including that of small and marginal farmers in India.”

“This Green Bond issuance with Samunnati underlines its commitment to sustainable agricultural practices. – Its deep understanding of the sector allowed us to earmark the proceeds of this bond to very specific projects under the agriculture, forestry and land use category.”, said Daniel Schriber, Head of Investments at Symbiotics.

Samunnati’s green loans follow Climate Bond Initiative categorization, in accordance with the Green Bond Principles of Climate Smart Agriculture. The loans are classified under three type of activities: (i) food security, (ii) climate resilience and (iii) green house gas management.

The following SDGs are promoted with this Green Bond are (i) no poverty (ii) zero hunger (iii) responsible consumption and production (iv) climate action and (v) life on land

The Green Bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange within the Green Bond section. The proceeds are to be fully used towards a 3-year tenor, senior, local currency loan facility to Samunnati.

About Samunnati

The term ‘Samunnati’ means ‘collective growth, collective prosperity, collective elevation’. Started in 2014 as the only specialized Agri Value Chain enabler, the organization is steered by one vision ‘to make market work for the smallholder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization leverages on ‘social’ and ‘trade’ capital to offer customized financial solutions to stakeholders across the agri value chain. Samunnati’s growth-oriented approach, known as AMLA [Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory services] empowers the agricultural community by helping them build better market linkages and using relevant technology and skills for growth. Headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Samunnati has its presence in more than 100 agri value chains (including pilot) spread over 22 states in India. samunnati.com

About Symbiotics

Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to financing micro- small and medium enterprises and low- and middle-income households in emerging and frontier markets. Since 2005, Symbiotics has structured and originated some 4,000 deals for over 490 companies in almost 90 emerging and frontier markets representing more than USD 6.5 billion. These investments have been purchased by more than 25 fund mandates and more than 50 third party specialized fund managers, forming a growing ecosystem and marketplace for such transactions. symbioticsgroup.com

Samunnati Acquires FPO-Centric Agri Supply Chain Platform Kamatan

A first-of-its-kind acquisition in the agri sector, Samunnati aims to strengthen its value proposition for FPOs and agri enterprises

Bengaluru, April 12, 2021: Samunnati, a specialized agri value chain solutions provider, today announced the acquisition of farmer-centric agri supply chain platform, Kamatan.

With this partnership, Samunnati and Kamatan hope to enhance their combined market linkage outreach to Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), small traders, farmer aggregators, and agri SMEs - helping them connect to corporate buyers and drive higher farmer income.

Recognising the impact, a technology-led approach to agriculture can create, Samunnati has joined hands with Kamatan to bring the last-mile benefits of digitalisation to FPOs and agri enterprises. Further, Kamatan’s expertise in agricultural institution building, farming best practices, farmer collectives, distribution, logistics and technology coupled with Samunnati’s holistic solutions approach through Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory services (AMLA) is expected to help agri value chains operate at a higher equilibrium.

This integration of the two organizations is expected to accelerate Samunnati’s journey towards becoming a full spectrum agri solutions service provider, thus consolidating its leadership position in the space.

Commenting on the acquisition Anilkumar S G, Founder and CEO, Samunnati said, “We are impressed with the rapid growth momentum Kamatan Farms has witnessed. They have built efficient supply chains for all farm produce, leveraging technology to reduce wastage and inefficiencies, while linking producers and bulk buyers in a seamless, transparent, and value-driven relationship. This has a strong correlation with Samunnati’s work with FPOs on the supply side and agri enterprises on the demand side across 20 states in India. We look forward to bringing the benefits of our joint synergies to FPOs and agri enterprises across the nation.”

“The agri sector in India is poised at an inflection point with enormous potential for the emergence and growth of inclusive value chains, owing to the push for self-sufficiency. We are excited about Kamatan’s integration with Samunnati, as we both share a vision to make agri value chains more inclusive, transparent and efficient. We are confident that our combined efforts will result in a bigger bouquet of services reaching a larger number of FPOs and agri enterprises and together we will create new milestones of growth in serving the needs of the agri community.'' said Pravesh Sharma, a former IAS officer and Co- Founder and CEO, Kamatan Farm Tech Pvt. Ltd.

About Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd. (https://www.samunnati.com)

The term ‘Samunnati’ means ‘collective growth, collective prosperity, collective elevation’. Started in 2014 as the only specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider, the organization is steered by one vision - ‘to make market work for smallholder farmers’ by making agri value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization leverages ‘social’ and ‘trade’ capital to offer customized financial solutions to stakeholders across the agri value chain. Samunnati’s growth-oriented approach, known as AMLA [Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory services] empowers the agricultural community by supporting them to build better market linkages and using relevant technology and skills for growth. Headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Samunnati has its presence in more than 100+ agri value chains including pilots spread over 20 states in India.

About Kamatan Farm Tech Pvt. Ltd. (http://www.kamatan.in)

Kamatan Farms is a Logistics and Supply Chain company building inclusive and sustainable agri value chains. Kamatan farms sources farm produce directly from farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and customizes the supply model for each buyer to ensure the utmost efficiency of the supply chain. The company has assisted farmers in implementing best practices in producing, harvesting, packaging and transporting produce, ensuring that the value they get for their produce is significantly higher than what traditional supply-chains offer. The company works with 70 FPOs and has supported over 30,000 farmers across 20 cities in procuring, sourcing, storing, quality control and logistics solutions. The company’s clients include agri enterprises, food processors and institutional buyers.

Agri Value-Chain Enabler Samunnati raises Rs 896 Mn (10 Mn EUR) Debt from FMO - Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Triodos Investment Management

Mr. Anilkumar SG

• FMO – the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Triodos Investment Management commit to EUR 10mn (896million INR) loan to Samunnati
• Samunnati is a specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider working with an objective of making the Agri Value Chains operate at a higher equilibrium and thereby make markets work for Small Holder Farmers. In this endeavour, Samunnati provides financial services, market linkages as well as Institution Building support to FPOs.
• Funds will be used to expand financing to Agribusinesses and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) contributing to financial inclusion, increased productivity, earnings, and market reach for smallholder farmers thereby fostering a comprehensive Value Chain Approach to Agriculture. 

Chennai, 11th January 2021: Samunnati, agri value chain enabler, has raised EUR 10 Million (896million INR) in debt from FMO – Entrepreneurial Bank and Triodos Fair Share Fund and Triodos Micorfinance Funds, two financial inclusion funds managed by Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM). FMO and Triodos IM have committed EUR 5 million (448million INR) each in debt to Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd., a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India to help the company expand financing and technical assistance to low-income farmers and enterprises throughout the agricultural value chain in India.

This follows the earlier debt financing round of USD 20 Mn which was extended by U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Samunnati is a specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider that offers customized financial, co-financial and non-financial solutions to farmer producer organizations and agricultural enterprises across the value chain. Founded in 2014, Samunnati exclusively works in the agriculture sector, with a mission ‘to make market work for the small holder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization works with a belief that for a value chain to work well, all the actors in the chain need to have access to markets, appropriate financial services and advisory services customized to suit the requirements of the value chain and align their incentives.

The company plans to use the funds to make loans to FPOs and SME Agribusinesses that are currently underserved by the formal financial system. This financing from FMO and Triodos Bank further endorses Samunnati’s differentiated model that leverages the social capital and trade capital in buyer seller relationships relying on the strength of the transaction in a customised manner by applying non-traditional methods of underwriting.

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati said, “Samunnati is working with FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 19 states in India. We are delighted to partner with FMO and Triodos Bank as this will help us further offer customized financial solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the agri value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium. The loan will allow Samunnati to expand the reach as well as deepen the engagement with FPOs & Agri Enterprises.”

Huib-Jan de Ruijter, Chief Investment Officer at FMO said “We are very impressed with Samunnati’s work in agriculture value chain finance in India which contributes to empowering Indian farmers and to making these value chains more efficient. Samunnati aims to provide solutions to all players across the entire value chain through financial intermediation, market linkages and advisory services. The loan to Samunnati achieves FMO’s goals of improving access to finance in this sector which is in great need of more finance. We are looking forward to making the difference together.”

Aditya Mohan, Sr. Investment Manager, Triodos Investment Management Asia said “Samunnati is a pioneer in building a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of the farming community. The prevailing pandemic has only further underscored the importance of critical supply chains like food. We are glad to strengthen our partnership with Samunnati and support their efforts to build an efficient and equitable agri ecosystem.”

Samunnati has previously raised equity financing from Elevar, Accel, ResponsAbility and Nuveen, and debt financing from a host of prestigious local and international financial institutions.

About Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd.

The term ‘Samunnati’ means ‘collective growth, collective prosperity, collective elevation’. Started in 2014 as the only specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider, the organization is steered by one vision ‘to make market work for the small holder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization leverages on ‘social’ and ‘trade’ capital to offer customized financial solutions to stakeholders across the agri value chain. Samunnati’s growth-oriented approach, known as AMLA [Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory services] empowers the agricultural community by supporting them build better market linkages and using relevant technology and skills for growth. Headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Samunnati has its presence in more than 54 agri value chains spread over 19 states in India. https://www.samunnati.com

About FMO

FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 50-year proven track-record of empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food & water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 10.4 billion spanning over 80 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector developments banks globally. For more information: please visit www.fmo.nl

About Triodos Investment Management

Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM) connects a broad range of investors who want to make their money work for lasting, positive change with innovative entrepreneurs and sustainable businesses doing just that. In doing so, Triodos IM serves as a catalyst in sectors that are key in the transition to a world that is fairer, more sustainable and humane. It has built up in-depth knowledge throughout 25 years of impact investing in sectors such as Energy & Climate, Financial Inclusion and Sustainable Food & Agriculture, and also invests in listed companies that materially contribute to the transition toward a sustainable society. Triodos IM is a globally active impact investor with 750+ investments in over 50 countries with EUR 4.9 billion in assets under management (as per end of June 2020). It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Triodos Bank NV, which was founded in 1980 in the Netherlands and is a leading expert in sustainable banking globally. Learn more: www.triodos-im.com

WayCool Foods Raises USD 7.8 Mn through Structured Debt Financing

• RBL Bank, Samunnati Financial Intermediation and Services, and InnoVen Capital participated in this round
• Funds will be used for meeting working capital needs and to boost automation

Chennai/Bengaluru, 10 December 2020: WayCool Foods, India's largest agri supply chain startup, has raised USD 7.8 Mn in debt from Samunnati, RBL Bank, and InnoVen Capital. 

This follows the earlier debt financing round of USD 5.5 Mn which was guaranteed by United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) and financed by IndusInd Bank. WayCool also closed the Series C round of USD 32 Mn led by Lightbox earlier this year.

The funds will be utilized for meeting working capital needs and to boost automation in the existing distribution centres and warehouses. WayCool Foods plans to achieve 70% digital and mechanical automation across all distribution units by mid-2021, in turn improving process flow, efficiency, and eliminating error-prone mundane activities.

On the new debt financing, Chinna Pardhasaradhi, CFO, WayCool Foods said, “The latest debt round completes the funding requirements for the company’s Annual Business Plan. It will be used to support select new lines of growth and build related physical as well as digital assets. WayCool has always believed in using a blend of funding sources in order to maximise its capital efficiency, thus delivering superior returns to investors. A number of unique lines have been leveraged in the current round. These make us one of the most capital efficient startups in the space.”

CEO Karthik Jayaraman said “Samunnati and InnoVen capital have been our long-term partners in growth, and the present funding lines are a natural evolution of this partnership. We welcome RBL Bank to our platform. The innovative instruments that we are developing in partnership with RBL Bank will free the business from working capital as a growth limiter.”

WayCool procures, processes, and distributes a range of food products including fresh produce, staples, and dairy products, servicing over 16,000 clients across South India. The company operates a soil-to-sale model, engaging deeply with a base of 50,000 farmers in more than 50 regions across India, while bringing efficiency through its direct supply chain model. The Company plans to accelerate profitability and improve on its capital efficient model by continuing to invest in technology and automation across the value chain.

WayCool has previously raised three rounds of equity funding from Lightbox, LGT Lightstone Aspada, and FMO, and has raised debt in the past from Caspian Impact Investment and Northern Arc Capital Ltd.

About WayCool Foods Pvt. Ltd.

WayCool Foods, founded in July 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, is India’s largest agri supply chain startup. Focusing on food development and distribution, the Company leverages innovative technology to scale and operate a complex supply chain. WayCool operates a full stack, broadline product range across multiple channels and categories such as fresh produce, staples, and dairy, serving over 16,000 clients in the general trade, modern trade, and food services space.

Samunnati raises US$20mn Direct Debt from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

• DFC commits a US$20mn loan to Samunnati
• Loan to provide impetus to Samunnati’s catalytic financing model for agriculture value chains to function at a higher equilibrium
• Funds will be used to expand financing to Agribusinesses and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) contributing to financial inclusion, increased productivity, earnings and market reach for smallholder farmers
• Setuka Partners LLP, based in Washington DC, were the exclusive advisors on this transaction. 

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed a $20mn direct loan to Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd., a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India to help the company expand financing and technical assistance to low-income farmers and enterprises throughout the agricultural value chain in India. Setuka Partners LLP were the exclusive advisors to this transaction.


Samunnati is a specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider that offers customized financial, co-financial and non-financial solutions to farmer producer organizations and agricultural enterprises across the value chain. Founded in 2014, Samunnati exclusively works in the agriculture sector, with a mission ‘to make market work for the small holder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization works with a belief that for a value chain to work well, all the actors in the chain need to have access to markets, appropriate financial services and advisory services customized to suit the requirements of the value chain and align their incentives. Samunnati’s value chain financing model expands inclusion of smallholder farmers into the formal financial system while optimizing their costs by enabling agriculture value chains to operate at a higher equilibrium contributing to increased productivity, enhanced earnings, and improved market reach.

The company plans to use the funds to make loans to FPOs and SME Agribusinesses that are currently underserved by the formal financial system. This financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) further endorses Samunnati’s differentiated model that leverages the social capital and trade capital in buyer seller relationships relying on the strength of the transaction as opposed to the traditional underwriting of mainstream financial institutions based on hard collateral security, capitalisation, and past profitability. The loan will allow Samunnati to strengthen its financing which enables smallholder collectives to connect to the fast growing higher value demand for agri-products across India.

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati said, “Samunnati is working with many FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 19 states in India. We are delighted to partner with DFC as this will help us further offer customized financial solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the agri value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium.”

DFC, America’s development bank, provides financing to address critical challenges across emerging markets globally. DFC invests across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology and provides financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in emerging markets. The investment in Samunnati - which has been committed after a stringent due diligence process - demonstrates DFC’s commitment to supporting financial inclusion in India’s food and agriculture sector.

Ajay Rao, Managing Director – South Asia Region, DFC who led this transaction said, “We are very impressed with Samunnati’s pioneering work in agriculture value chain finance in India which contributes to making agriculture value chains more efficient, enables more produce to flow through the value chain, lowers food waste and provides for higher and stable incomes for smallholder farmers. The DFC is proud to work together with the experienced team at Samunnati and we look forward to collaborate in scaling up the breadth and depth of the company’s operations across India.”

Samunnati has previously raised equity financing from Elevar, Accel, ResponsAbility and Nuveen, and debt financing from a host of prestigious local and international financial institutions.

About Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd.

The term ‘Samunnati’ means ‘collective growth, collective prosperity, collective elevation’. Started in 2014 as the only specialized Agri Value Chain Solutions provider, the organization is steered by one vision ‘to make market work for the small holder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. The organization leverages on ‘social’ and ‘trade’ capital to offer customized financial solutions to stakeholders across the agri value chain. Samunnati’s growth-oriented approach, known as AMLA [Aggregation, Market Linkages and Advisory services] empowers the agricultural community by supporting them build better market linkages and using relevant technology and skills for growth. Headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Samunnati has its presence in more than 54 agri value chains spread over 19 states in India. https://www.samunnati.com


About Setuka Partners LLP (www.setuka.in)

Setuka Partners LLP is a mission driven enterprise that provides hands-on support in capital raising and capacity development to for-profit social enterprises working with underprivileged populations in emerging and frontier markets. Founded in April 2019 by Aman Khanna and based in Washington DC, the firm has already unlocked catalytic capital and value creation for investors and social enterprises across such markets.

Visa Selects Fintech Firm Payswiff as Winner of Visa Everywhere Initiative 2020 in India

Visa (NYSE: V), the global leader in payments technology, today announced Payswiff as the grand winner of the first Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) challenge in India. With participation from more than 260 fintechs and 400+ applications, a record number for any VEI program outside the US, the Initiative had challenges focused on digital issuance for driving access to payments and credit, increasing small merchants’ acceptance and digitally transforming B2B payments.

While Payswiff won for its solution of providing end-to-end omni channel electronic payments to banks, SMEs and enterprise merchants, Phi Commerce won the challenge on digital issuance through integrated payments across channels and Samunnati won the challenge on B2B payments for a solution specializing in the Agri-value chain. The challenges were part of the first Indian edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative – a leading global innovation program for identifying and collaborating with fintechs to produce cutting-edge solutions to digital payment challenges, in addition to enhancing their product propositions and providing payment solutions for Visa’s vast network of partners.

TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager for India & South Asia, Visa said, “Our hearty congratulations to Payswiff, the grand winner of the first ever Visa Everywhere Initiative in India. We would also like to congratulate Phi Commerce and Samunnati, the winners of the two other challenges. Through VEI, we were on the lookout to collaborate with fintechs that are creating agile, secure and seamless payment experiences, thereby putting completely new and evolved payment experiences into the hands of consumers and businesses. We are happy to have engaged with this vibrant community and look forward to creating unique payment experiences for India.”

He further added, “It is a fact that India is the hotbed of payment innovation and are going to further push the envelope in inventive payments. While VEI is a platform to enable fintechs to enhance and take their innovative solutions to market faster, we are privileged to nurture the companies who are redefining the way India pays.”

After seven months of scouting for the most talented fintechs across the country by hosting roadshows, the pitch day was held in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad for shortlisting fintechs under each of the three challenges. Visa invited nine finalists for a virtual presentation, in light of the current pandemic, to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges which included executives from Visa, their partners and leading fintech organizations.

“The entire VEI journey has been an exciting experience for us at Visa. It has also been a culmination of our last three years of fintech outreach - starting with Visa Developer Platform in 2017, followed by the Visa Ready Program and Fintech FastTrack launches in 2019 – as we continue to open up for business with Indian fintechs and take them to a global stage,” said Arvind Ronta, Head of Products for India & South Asia, Visa.

“We congratulate the winners Payswiff, Phi Commerce and Samunnati and are excited to work with them closely and help commercialize their solutions through Visa’s expertise and capabilities,” added Arvind.

Since its inception in the US in 2015, VEI has expanded into a global platform with more than 6000+ participating startups, that have collectively raised over $2.5+ billion in funding, with more than 215 finalists and nearly 100 winners. The program has been rolled out in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, touching over 100 countries.

For more information, visit Visa Everywhere Initiative.

Greenhouse AgriTech Platform Clover Raises $5.5 Mn Series A round from Omnivore, Accel, and Mayfield

Clover announced today that it has raised over USD 5.5 million in Series A funding from Omnivore, alongside existing investors Accel and Mayfield. Clover is a greenhouse agritech platform, which partners with farmers across India and markets premium quality, branded, greenhouse-grown fresh produce through B2B and B2C channels. Accel and Mayfield earlier invested in Clover’s seed round back in December 2018, while the company was still in stealth mode.

[caption id="attachment_142079" align="alignleft" width="257"] Avinash[/caption]

Clover’s business model centers around demand-led cultivation, a managed farm network, and full stack agronomy. Demand-led cultivation means that Clover grows high quality, consistent, and traceable fresh produce for specific and predictable client demands. The managed farm network of greenhouses are based in peri-urban and rural areas surrounding urban consumption zones, thereby ensuring freshness and reducing spoilage. Clover provides a full stack agronomy solution to the greenhouse farmers in the network, improving yields and standardizing output quality.

Based in Bangalore, Clover was co-founded by Avinash BR, Gururaj Rao, Arvind Murali, and Santhosh Narasipura. Avinash previously worked as a venture investor with Aavishkaar and earlier spent almost a decade at Bosch across engineering and corporate strategy roles. Gururaj previously worked in general management and analytics roles for Myntra, Callidus Cloud, and Info Edge. Arvind was earlier based in the Gulf in various sales management roles while Santhosh worked in his family’s manufacturing business.

According to Avinash, Co-Founder of Clover, “We are thrilled to partner with Omnivore, Accel, and Mayfield as we scale our operations across multiple metro areas. This additional funding will help to accelerate the growth of our managed farm network, support our entry into new cities, and diversify our B2B and B2C fresh produce offerings."

Commenting on the transaction, Mark Kahn, Managing Partner of Omnivore, said “We believe that Clover is building India’s first fresh produce supply chain adapted to the challenge of climate change. By leveraging peri-urban greenhouses, Clover can deliver the highest quality vegetables and fruits to B2B and B2C consumers in India’s largest metro areas. Omnivore is excited to support Clover in the coming years as they scale to new heights."

Prashanth Prakash, Partner at Accel, likewise noted “Clover is transforming the perishables supply chain to better serve the new-age Indian consumer who values high quality produce. We look forward to the journey with a team that has a deep understanding of this space."

Vikram Godse, Managing Partner at Mayfield, also noted “Clover operates in the highly fragmented but large agriculture market of India. By using cutting edge technology, systems, and processes, the Clover team, led by Avinash, is disrupting the agriculture value chain for fruits and vegetables. This not only brings about economic benefits to Clover's B2B customers but also ensures significantly improved quality of produce is delivered to the end B2C consumer."

About Clover:

Clover is a greenhouse agritech platform, which partners with farmers across India and markets premium quality, branded, greenhouse-grown fresh produce through B2B and B2C channels.

About Omnivore:

Omnivore is a venture capital firm, based in India, which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India and has backed over 20 startups since 2011. Every day, Omnivore portfolio companies drive agricultural prosperity and transform food systems across India, making farming more profitable, resilient, and sustainable.

About Accel:

Accel is a leading venture capital firm that invests in people and their companies from the earliest days through all phases of private company growth. Acko, Atlassian, BlackBuck, BlueStone, BookMyShow, Braintree, BrowserStack, Cloudera, Collectabillia, CureFit, DJI, Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, Freshworks, Housing-PropTiger, Lookout Security, Mitra Biotech, MuSigma, Myntra, Ola, Paxata, Portea, Qualtrics, Samunnati, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, Swiggy, UrbanClap and Vox Media are among the companies the firm has backed over the past 30 years. The firm seeks to understand entrepreneurs as individuals, appreciate their originality and play to their strengths, because greatness doesn't have a stereotype.

About Mayfield:

Mayfield is a global venture capital firm with over $2.7 billion under management. Mayfield has been investing in India since 2006 and cumulatively manages $219 million in India across its two India dedicated funds. Mayfield is currently investing out of its second fund and backs early-stage companies (Seed to Series A stage) targeting the consumer and business sectors across tech and tech-enabled verticals.

Agritech Platform Safal Fasal Launched in India to Improve Farmer Livelihoods

In a bid to resolve farmer woes and create supply chain efficiency in agriculture, global fintech solution provider BPC has launched Safal Fasal (www.safalfasalonline.in), a digital platform that gives small and marginal farmers greater access to finance, technology, markets, and risk-management tools. The launch event in Lucknow witnessed on-boarding of nearly 30,000 farmers on the MarketPlace platform.

[caption id="attachment_139692" align="aligncenter" width="906"] Company officials lighting ceremonious lamp[/caption]

From solving farmer credit issues, to offering inventory management systems, financing agricultural equipment, know-how to reduce crop losses, and mapping quality storage facilities, Safal Fasal is aimed at directly impacting farmer income through technology. Leading Indian creditors, agritech companies, and relevant industry players have also partnered this initiative by BPC to tackle India’s farming problems. Some of the leading corporate who have on-boarded include ICICI Bank, Tanager International, Bayer, SURE, Sub-K,Kisan Saathi, Transity, India Health Link and GupShups. The launch event was attended by representatives of ACCION, NABARD, GIZ, Axis Bank, ICICI Lombard, Mfin India, Microsave, PWC, Samunnati, Greenlight etc.

Safal Fasal Launch in Lucknow- Debarshi Dutta, EVP Global Head Marketplace for BPC Banking Technologies, Safal Fasal, Anatoly Loginov, Chairman BPC Banking Technologies, S K Roy, Nabard, Dwarika Singh, ISED, Satyender Goel, India Health Link.

The Safal Fasal Marketplace connects buyers and sellers and improves the income of the farmer by enabling access to multiple buyers, multiple input companies at reduced prices, credit at affordable rates, financial services lifting them into the real economy and access to advisory services for a more efficient and sustainable crop productivity. Buyers benefit from access to a large and varied segment of credible and vetted farmers and their produce, ease of procurement and planning in a fragmented market, better logistics and tracing and therefore a better and more balanced price with reduced risk.

Speaking at the launch event, Anatoly Loginov, Chairman BPC Banking Technologies said, “Building ecosystems is not merely a passion, but a realistic and much needed development in the digitization of our economy. We can no longer achieve better performance through point to point solutions, but we must seek cooperation amongst parties and facilitate this at scale with digital technology. By doing so we can also make a contribution to large societal and economic dilemmas such as food provision, fair trade and access to society and a healthy financial life for all.”

This scalable digital innovation will empower farmers by connecting them with credible financial and business stakeholders in the value chain. Safal Fasal will look at fixing the broken Agri Value Chain by bridging the gaps between various stakeholders starting from farmers, FPOs, FPCs, input providers, produce-buyer financial institutions, insurance companies, logistics providers, shared equipment providers, knowledge partners, advisory services and other relevant value added-service providers.

“We are delighted that so many credible business partners have signed up to our initiative ranging from leading banks and agriculture providers up to local partners delivering kiosks for the local farmer in remote locations. Together we can build a broad digital ecosystem from India, which learnings can then be lifted into other sectors and regions of the world,” he added.

Discussing the company’s mission, Debarshi Dutta, Executive Vice President & Global Head Marketplace for BPC Banking Technologies, said, “We are focused on collaborating with the existing area specific stakeholders and bringing in technological interventions to help better and efficient delivery value chain, through proper transparency and traceability. This will help in taking the benefits to the last mile and increase the income of the farmers and other marketplace stakeholders by 15-20%. With the digital footprints, lending to farmers or MSME will be easier for the financial institutions and at a better price point. This will be a savings in itself.”

Mr. S K Roy, DGM, NABARD said in his keynote address, “There is a strong need of sustainable, smart and climate adopting technology to improve agriculture productivity. The initiatives like Safal Fasal will in bringing technology in the hands of farmers and increase their income."

“Nabard extends full support to BPC in this initiative and invites them to introduce the facility in more states,” Mr. Roy added.

As per statistics, Gross Value Added by Agriculture sector (agriculture, forestry and fishing) in the Indian economy is estimated at INR 17.7 lakh crores (approx. US$ 274 billion) for the financial year 2017-18. Agriculture accounts for a substantial part of GDP (16%) and employment (49%). Moreover, 86% of India’s farmers are small and marginal as per Agriculture census 2015-16.

(agcensus.nic.in/document/agcen1516/T1_ac_2015_16.pdf )The company’s focus is to bring a positive impact in the agriculture sector using technology intervention keeping the small and marginal farmers at the centre.

About Safal Fasal

Safal Fasal is an agri business marketplace aimed at empowering the entire food value chain ecosystem. Its objective is to enable the right market linkages between farmers, input providers, farm equipment companies, banks and financial institutions including insurance companies, knowledge & advisory services and value added product & service providers. Safal Fasal will allow the digital linkages to credit providers for greater economic benefit for farmers on a day to day basis.

For more information, please visit www.safalfasalonline.in.

About BPC MarketPlace

BPC MarketPlace was founded 20 years ago, and as true ‘globetrotters in fintech’ it is now active in 82 countries. Its 600 employees deploy services and technology for over 220 clients in 82 countries. The company powers payments across the globe by supplying software to banks, processors, merchants and other ecosystem players, such as governments and transportation providers. True to its mission of ‘bridging real life to digital’ it has a strong focus on creating ecosystems around smart rural and city initiatives to advance financial inclusion and streamline the buy and sell processes for all stakeholders involved.

~ Newsvoir