Arya had a unique pairing of services for India’s smallholder grain farmers when it launched in 2013: post-harvest logistics and crop storage to curb food spoilage, plus working capital loans to tide farmers over between harvest and sale.
The Delhi-based company is among the most successful agtech startups in India, operating more than 12,500 warehouses and facilitating more than $1.3 billion annually in farmer loans.
With farmers facing greater climate-related threats to their livelihoods, the company is expanding its services with funding from climate-focused GEF Capital Partners, a spinout from the multilateral Global Environment Fund. GEF led Arya’s 7.3 billion-rupee ($80.5 million) Series D equity round.
Smart farms
In November, Arya rolled out its “smart farm centers” to provide farmers with free digital tools, training, services like soil testing and drone-based crop monitoring, and connection points to share experiences and practices with each other. The centers are run by female farmers from each community. Arya has 25 such centers in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra and aims to add 75 more over the next 18 months.
The initiative secured Arya a climate-smart agriculture award from impact investor responsAbility.
Arya’s growth since inception has been fueled by impact investors, including agtech-focused Omnivore in Mumbai, Quona Capital, Asia Impact and Lightrock.
It secured the latest capital despite a slump in global grain prices. The company says it manages default risk by requiring farmers to put up their grain as collateral.
