AG R I C U LT U R E

STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN
 CONTENT
01. Foreword

............................ PAGE NO. 1

02. Agriculture in India 07. Government Support

I. Overview

............................. PAGE NO. 2 ............................. PAGE NO. 11

03. Agriculture Startup Trends 08. Startup India

............................ PAGE NO. 4 ............................. PAGE NO. 17

04. Technology and Agriculture 09. Active Enablers in the Agri-Ecosystem

II. Technology Adoption I. Incubator, Accelerates & Institutes
III. Use cases across value chain II. Active Investors

............................. PAGE NO. 6 .......................... PAGE NO. 22

05. Opportunities in the Sector 10. The Stakeholders Corner

............................ PAGE NO. 8 ............................ PAGE NO. 24

06. Challenges in the Sector 11. Authors

........................... PAGE NO. 9 ............................ PAGE NO. 33

01. FOREWORD
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of Indiaʼs population. In 2019, India
was the 9th largest exporter of agricultural products and the total value of exported agricultural
products stood at USD 37.4 bn. India exported agri-machinery worth USD 1,024 mn during
2019-20. Of this, 76.4% was exported to the UK, North America, Eastern Europe, EU, Africa, ASEAN
and SAARC. The export of Agri and allied commodities during April 2020 - February 2021 were INR
2.74 lakh crore as compared to INR 2.31 crore in the same period last year indicating an increase
of 18.49%. Indiaʼs agriculture technology can grow to USD 24.1 bn in 5 years. The current market
size of agri tech, including AI-based agri innovation start-ups in India, is nearly worth USD 204
mn.1 Agriculture has evolved manifold and witnessed a green revolution, a white revolution, a
yellow revolution and a blue revolution. With the onset of innovation and entrepreneurship, this
sector has continuously and successfully been unleashing its potential to grow and innovate.

Startup India, a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to catalyse startup culture
and build a strong and inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India. Since
the launch of the initiative on 16th January 2016 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Startup
India has rolled out several programs with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs and
transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.

Startup India through its initiatives has been continuously working to promote and hone
entrepreneurship in several priority sectors such as agriculture. In past 5 years, several
entrepreneurial initiatives have been implemented to drive the Indian Agriculture Startup
Ecosystem.

This report does a commendable job to highlight the overall landscape of the agriculture sector
and then illustrate how the startup ecosystem is penetrating the sector. Further, the delves into
the integration of technology and agriculture, key opportunities, and main challenges in the
sector. The report also empowers the reader with the knowledge of the government initiatives,
active incubators and investors, and initiatives by Startup India in the agriculture startup
ecosystem. Lastly, the stakeholders themselves provide insights on their journey in the
agriculture startup ecosystem.

This report is an excellent resource for understanding the landscape of the Indian agriculture
startup ecosystem. Several startups are working on disruptive ideas to empower the agriculture
sector in India and bridge the gaps between the opportunities and challenges. The Government
of India encourages more entrepreneurs to venture in this field and promote the spirit of
Atmanirbhar Bharat in this key sector of Indiaʼs growth.

01
1
https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/agriculture-forestry
02. AGRICULTURE IN INDIA
Overview
Agriculture plays a vital role in Indiaʼs economy. India has the 10th largest arable land resources
in the world with 20 agri-climatic regions including all of the 15 major climates existing in the
world. The country also possesses majority of the diverse soil types in the world i.e. 46 of the
60 soil types which facilitates the growth of multiple crops. There are three major seasons of
agriculture in India- Kharif, Rabi and Zaid.

SEASON MONTHS CROPS

Kharif June to September

Groundnut

Wheat, Rapeseeds, Barley, Rice,

Rabi October to March
Maize, and Groundnuts

Watermelon, Pumpkin, Cucumber,

Zaid April to June
Bitter gourd

58% of the rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood.
Growth in Gross Value Added (GVA) by agriculture and allied sectors stood at 4% in 2019-20 and
growing population and rising urban and rural incomes have added to the growth in demand for
agriculture products. The Indian food and grocery market is the worldʼs sixth-largest, with retail
contributing 70% of the sales. The Indian food processing industry is one of the largest industries
in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export, and expected growth.
Additionally, there has been a FDI inflow of $2.16 bn in the agriculture services and $574 mn in the
agriculture machinery from April 2000 to March 2020. India is also the largest producer of spices,
pulses, milk, tea, cashew, and jute; and the second-largest producer of wheat, rice, fruits and
vegetables, sugarcane, cotton, and oilseed. India is currently the worldʼs fourth-largest producer
of agrochemicals.23

02
2
https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/agriculture-forestry
3
https://www.ibef.org/industry/agriculture-india.aspx
India is developing and agriculture is evolving continuously at the same pace. The trends of
production and consumption of food are aslo evolving. For some years, in India, an increase
in population, an increase in Income, rural/urban migration, and extension in rural per capita
productivity has been recorded. With the enhancement of all these factors, demand for food has
increased too.

03
03. AGRICULTURE STARTUP TRENDS

While the government is trying to accelerate growth in the agriculture sector, budding
entrepreneurs of the country are relentlessly contributing to the sector by innovating and
developing breakthrough technology. Modern techniques and methods will surely elevate
agriculture to the next level and ease the burden on farmers. This, therefore, creates a huge
scope for Agriculture Startups in the country. Transformation of Agriculture to Agri-business is
one of the important strategies where enterprising farmers practice profitable agriculture.

Every 9th Agritech startup in the world is from India. Over the last decade, the sector is being
channelized with the stream of educated youth, fired by the ideas, passion, and innovations to
launch newer kinds of technology and business models to lift the face of agriculture from primitive
to hi-tech ones. Startups are providing missing links in the Agri-value chain and delivering efficient
products, technologies, and services to the farmers. Additionally, across agriculture use cases
such as farm automation, weather forecasting, drone use, online vegetable marketing, smart
poultry and dairy ventures, smart agriculture, etc. innovations and technology-driven powerful
startups set to revolutionize the agriculture sector. 4

04
4
https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/agritech-india-emerging-trends-2019
The Indian Startup Ecosystem has agritech startups on a rise; less than 5 global agritech
companies ventured in India, as compared to more than 25 Indian agritech companies with a
global presence. More than 300 agritech startups are striving to address current anomalies in
the agriculture supply chain management. 5

In 2016, the global agritech investment figure stood at 3.23 billion USD. 90%+ of all funding is
focused on seed-stage and early-stage startups; there is an increased focus on quality and
scale-up. In 2016, within global investments, Indian agritech startup firms contributed around 9%,
valued at 313 million USD. The Indian agritech sector has seen significant growth in investments
in the past few years. Between 2014 and 2019, startups pulled in $1.7 billion compared to $0.2
billion raised in the previous five-year period. Indiaʼs agritech sector attracted about $245 million
in investments from venture capital firms in 2019 and Investments from venture capital firms in
agri-tech startups are expected to exceed $500 million in the next two years. India continues to be
among the top six countries globally, with the highest number of deals in agricultural technology
(The US, Canada, the UK, Israel, and France comprise the other five countries).67

The vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat is rooted deeply in the agri-startup ecosystem and shall continue
to prevail in the coming years.
05
5
https://indiainfrahub.com/2020/news/venture-capital-investment-in-agritech-sector-
could-attract-over-500-million/
6
Agri Start-ups: Innovation for boosting the future of agriculture in India November 2019 by
PwC and FICCI
7
Nasscom Agritech in India: Emerging Trends in 2019
04. TECHNOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE
Technology Adoption
The availability of high-speed internet with maturing and continuously expanding rural digital
ecosystem offers significant opportunity for innovation in agricultural ecosystem. The penetration
of technology, across the complete agriculture value chain, has the potential to not only solve
emerging challenges of the sector but also help transform the traditional infrastructure and
operational measures.

Implementation of emerging technologies, advanced devices and wide adoption of precision

agriculture will allow businesses to become more efficient and profitable. Collaboration between
the agri-tech startups and financial institutions can solve challenges regarding the small and
marginal farmers unable to borrow capital. The integration of GPS and GIS based technologies
can assist with the field mapping and soil mapping enabling estimation of yield. A network of
sensors can detect the moisture content and weather conditions facilitating farmers to plan
water scheduling and usage of fertilizers. Usage of robots can enable automation right from the
sowing of seeds to the processing and warehousing allowing farmers to automate repetitive
tasks lessening labor intervention and focus more on improving productivity and efficiency.
Utilization of ICT, IoT, UAVs, Blockchain and machine learning algorithms will put forward the
path towards smart agriculture in coming years.

06
Use cases across value chain

Value Chain Use Cases

Financing Lending & Mobile Payments

Tracking of Collaterals
Credit Risk Management
Marketplace for Seeds & Pesticides
Inputs and
Knowledge Machinery Rental Services
Predictive Maintenance and Monitoring of Machinery
Weather forecasting advisory
Farm Management Remote Sensing
Yield Mapping and Monitoring
Drip Irrigation
Processing & Quality Assessment
Farm Inventory Tracking
IoT enabled Cold Storage

Distribution & Fleet Management

Logistics Commodities Tracking
Automated Warehousing

07
05. OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SECTOR

Segment Opportunity

Financing
Adequate Irrigation
Resource Maximization
Farm Automation & Aggregation
Farmer Support Enhance Productivity
Employment Rationalization
Stakeholder Empowerment
Forecasting
Resource Maximization

Streamlining Channels
Supply Chain Control over Middlemen & Agents
Processing and Exports
Traceability of Exports

Digital Infrastructure
Post-Harvest Loss
Others Testing Methods
Assaying and Grading
Reducing air pollution due to paddy burning
Information Dissemination
Breed improvement and animal nutrition
08
06. CHALLENGES IN THE SECTOR

The agriculture sector is plagued by inefficiency in the supply chain that controls farming
resources such as finance, seeds, chemicals, etc. and improper access to the distribution
networks.

Additionally, post-harvest loss in India amounts to $13 bn8. Demand-driven cold chains,
warehouse monitoring solutions, and market linkage can resolve the existing bottlenecks
resulting in streamlining of processes along with a significant increase in farmersʼ income.

While agriculture is a fragmented activity in India with most of the regions depending on rainfall
for water, penetration of advanced technology enables information dissemination that can assist
in adequate irrigation as well as conservation of water.

Another problem that hampers the growth of the sector is that Indian farmlands are fragmented
and small; 70% are less than 1 hectare, while the national average is less than 2 hectares, resulting
in significantly low farm yields. Solutions to increase productivity with respect to the farm size is
the need of the hour. 9

09
8
https://indiainfrahub.com/2020/news/venture-capital-investment-in-agritech-sector-
could-attract-over-500-million/

9
Agri Start-ups: Innovation for boosting the future of agriculture in India November 2019 by
PwC and FICCI
Agriculture sector employs 50% of Indiaʼs workforce but contributes only 18% of the GDP.
Solutions that enable farm automation and aggregation will rationalize and gainfully redistribute
the workforce. 10

India ranks among the top countries in food processing. By 2024, the sector will employ 9
mn individuals. The organized sector of food processing has only 60% share. Formalizing the
unorganized sector can streamline the sector and improve traceability and in turn benefit and
improve the farmersʼ income and exports.

With the spread of digitalization in all the sectors, this trend is yet to fully penetrate in the
agriculture sector. Digitization shall bring more transparency into transactions and create
more sales channels for farmers. Further, digital data and market connect can empower each
stakeholder in the agriculture sector. There is an acute lack of data and insights at the ground and
farmer level. Along with laying the digital work, solutions that build a layer of data will transform
schemes, insurance, and loan disbursal, and can create a manifold impact.

10
10
https://nasscom.in/knowledge-center/publications/agritech-india-emerging-trends-2019
07. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas The component of Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship

Yojana- Remunerative Development under the scheme promotes innovation
Approaches for and agripreneurship by providing financial support and
Agriculture and Allied nurturing the incubation ecosystem via supporting the
Sector Rejuvenation startups in various categories.
(RKVY-RAFTAAR)
https://rkvy.nic.in/

Bhuvan Bhuvan, Indian Geo-Platform of ISRO, has Agriculture as one

of its application sectors under which Pest Surveillance,
RKVY, and Planation have geo-tagging.

https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/bhuvan_links.php

Doubling Farmers' Doubling Farmers' Income (DFI) is a flagship initiative of the

Income Indian Government, which targets the doubling of farmers'
income by 2022, to create an optimum remunerative value
chain ecosystem for the farmers. It is estimated that an
annual growth rate of 10.41% in farmers' income is required
for their income to double between 2015-16 and 2022-23.
https://agricoop.nic.in/en/doubling-farmers
-income

Pradhan Mantri The scheme has been formulated to extend the coverage of
Krishi Sinchai Yojana irrigation and improving water use efficiency in a focused
(PMKSY) manner with end-to-end solution on source creation,
distribution, management, field application and extension
activities.

https://pmksy.gov.in/

11
Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

Pradhan Mantri Fasal It is the government sponsored crop insurance scheme

Bima Yojana that integrates multiple stakeholders on a single platform.

https://pmfby.gov.in/

Pradhan Mantri The Umbrella Scheme consists of three sub-schemes,

Annadata Aay namely Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency
SanraksHan Abhiyan Payment Scheme (PDPS), and Private Procurement &
Stockist Scheme (PPSS).

https://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/policies-and
-schemes/crops-related/pradhan-mantri-annada
ta-aay-sanrakshan-abhiyan

Long-term irrigation The fund has been launched purpose of funding and
fund by NABARD accelerating the implementation of incomplete major and
medium irrigational projects.

https://www.nabard.org/content1.aspx?
id=655&catid=8&mid=488

Atal Innovation Mission NewGen IED entrepreneurship development programme

(AIM) sponsored by The National Science & Technology
Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) for
industries such as technology hardware, chemicals,
networking & telecommunications, agriculture, artificial
intelligence, construction and design.

http://www.newgeniedc-edii.in/

A Scheme for ASPIRE aims creating employment opportunities through

Promotion of entrepreneurship in rural areas through setting up
Innovation, Rural incubation centres and a network of technology centres –
Industries, and Technology Business Incubators and Livelihood Incubation
Entrepreneurship Centre with special focus in the agro industry
(ASPIRE)
https://aspire.msme.gov.in/ASPIRE/
AFHome.aspx

12
Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

National Agriculture It is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks

Market (e-NAM) the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national
market for agricultural commodities.

https://www.enam.gov.in/web/

National Mission It has been formulated for enhancing agricultural

For Sustainable productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on
Agriculture (NMSA) integrated farming, water use efficiency, soil health
management and synergizing resource conservation.
https://nmsa.dac.gov.in/

Paramparagat Krishi It aims to form 10,000 clusters over the next three years
Vikas Yojana and bring about five lakh acres of agricultural area under
organic farming. The government also intends to cover
the certification costs and promote organic farming using
traditional resources.

https://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/policies-and-schem
es/crops-related/krishi-unnati-yojana/paramparagat
-krishi-vikas-yojana

Micro Irrigation Fund The government approved a dedicated Rs 5,000 crore fund
to bring more land area under micro-irrigation as part of
its objective to boost agriculture production and farmers
income.

https://www.nabard.org/content1.aspx
id=1720&catid=8&mid=488

National Agriculture Honʼble Finance Minister announced on 15.05.2020

Infra Financing Facility Rs 1 lakh croreAgri Infrastructure Fund for farm-gate
infrastructure for farmers. Financing facility of Rs. 1,00,000
crore will be provided for funding Agriculture Infrastructure
Projects at farm-gate & aggregation points (Primary
Agricultural Cooperative Societies, Farmers Producer
Organizations, Agriculture entrepreneurs, Start-ups, etc.).
Impetus for development of farmgate& aggregation point,
affordable and financially viable Post Harvest Management
infrastructure.

https://agriinfra.dac.gov.in/

13
Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

Animal Husbandry
Infrastructure
Development Fund

those sanctioned projects which are covered under

http://dahd.nic.in/ahdf

Support To State The Scheme ‘Support to State Extension Programmes

Extension Programmes for Extension Reformsʼ aims at making extension system
for Extension Reforms farmer driven and farmer accountable by disseminating
(Atma) Scheme technology to farmers through new institutional
arrangements viz. Agricultural Technology Management
Agency (ATMA) at district level to operationalize the
extension reforms on a participatory mode. The objective
of the scheme will be achieved through strengthened
institutional arrangements, dedicated manpower,
Innovative Technology Dissemination component and
revamped strategy.
https://extensionreforms.dacnet.nic.in/

Rashtriya Gokul Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) has been launched in

Mission (RGM) December 2014 with an outlay of Rs 2025 crore for
development and conservation of indigenous breeds
through selective breeding in the breeding tract and
genetic upgradation of nondescript bovine population.
The scheme comprises of two components namely
National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB) and
National Mission on Bovine Productivity (NMBP).

http://dahd.nic.in/rgm

14
Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

Integrated Scheme For The Government of India has approved the proposal of
Agricultural Marketing the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation for the
(Isam) continuation and integration of on-going Central Sector
Schemes as Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing
(ISAM). The ISAM consists of the following sub schemes
namely:
•Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)
•Marketing Reseach and Information Network (MRIN)
•Strengthening of Agmark Grading Facilities (SAGF)
•Agribusiness Development (ABD) through Venture Capital
•Assistance (VCA) and Project Development Facility (PDF)

Choudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural

Marketing (NIAM)

https://agmarknet.gov.in/PriceAndArrivals/
arrivals1.aspx

mKisan mKisan is an SMS portal set up by the Hon'ble President

of India for farmers that empowers all central and state
government organisations in agriculture and allied sectors
to give information or services to farmers regarding
agricultural practices.

https://mkisan.gov.in/dashboard.aspx

National Livestock National Livestock Mission launched during 2014-15 was

Mission formulated for development of livestock sector with the
objectives to enhance the level of nutrition and standard
of living of livestock keepers and farmers especially small
holders through sustainable, safe and equitable livestock
development.
http://dahd.nic.in/national_livestock_mission

National Programme The Department is implementing National Programme

for Dairy Development for Dairy Development scheme since 2014-15 with the
objective to create and strengthen dairy infrastructure for
procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk
products by the State Implementing Agencies (SIAs) i.e.
State Cooperative Dairy Federations/ District Cooperative
Milk Producersʼ Union.
http://dahd.nic.in/npdd

15
Initiative/ Brief
Policy/Scheme

Dairy Processing Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund has

& Infrastructure been set up with a corpus of Rs. 8,004 crore with National
Development Fund Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The
project focuses on building an efficient milk procurement
system by setting up of processing and chilling
infrastructure & installation of electronic milk adulteration
testing equipment at village level. The Scheme envisages
providing loan assistance to State Dairy Federations,
District Milk Unions, Milk Producers Companies, Multi State
Cooperatives and NDDB subsidiaries across the country
who are termed as Eligible End Borrowers (EEBs). The
funding period (2017-18 to 2019-20) of the scheme to be
revised to 2018-19 to 2022-23 and the repayment period to
be extended upto 2030-31 with spill over to first quarter of
the FY 2031-32.

http://dahd.nic.in/didf

National Animal National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) is

Disease Control a flagship scheme launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister in
Programme September, 2019 for control of Foot & Mouth Disease and
Brucellosis by vaccinating 100% cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat
and pig population for FMD and 100% bovine female calves
of 4-8 months of age for brucellosis with the total outlay of
Rs.13, 343.00 crore for five years (2019-20 to 2023-24).

http://dahd.nic.in/nadcp1

Pradhan Mantri Matsya The scheme will be implemented across the country over a
Sampada Yojana period of five years with an aim to attain an additional fish
production of 70 lakh tons, to double fisheries exports to
Rs. 1,00,000 Crores and to generate 55 lakh employment
opportunities for socio-economic development.
https://pmmsy.dof.gov.in/

16
08. STARTUP INDIA

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT), intends to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startup
businesses, drive sustainable economic growth, and generate large scale employment
opportunities. The Government through this initiative aims to empower Startups to grow
through innovation and design.

Several programs have been undertaken since the launch to contribute to the vision of
transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers. These programs have
catalyzed the startup culture by providing the ecosystem the much-needed support.
Additionally, startups are recognized through the initiative, with many entrepreneurs availing of
the benefits of starting their businesses in India.

17
 43K+ 4.5%
of recognised
recognised
startups belong
startups
to agriculture

Startup India Recognition

Startups that meet the definition as prescribed under the G.S.R Notification 127 (E) are eligible
to apply for a recognition certificate under Startup India, DPIIT. As of 3rd February 2021, 54,000+
startups have received the DPIIT recognition. Out of the startups that have received recognition
certificates, at least 4.5% belong to the agriculture sector. The top four states with DPIIT recognized
agriculture startups are Maharashtra (18.15%), Karnataka (11.62%), Uttar Pradesh (8.08%), and Delhi
(7.33%).

Agriculture Grand Challenge 2017

Startup India engages with various Government bodies to conduct grand challenges to promote
entrepreneurship and enhance collaboration. The grand challenges channelize the Government
to work with startups and build partnerships on the front of executing National endeavors. The
Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with Startup India launched the Agriculture Grand Challenge
in December 2017 wherein 12 pre-identified problem statements were noted for seeking solutions
from the startups. Each problem statement had categorized startups into two-stage – ideation
and enterprise. Assaying & Grading, Farm to Fork, Last Mile Dissemination, Soil Testing, Sorting &
Grading, Substitute for Pesticides, Testing Adulteration, Yield Estimation, Custom Hiring Centre,
and Price Forecast were the sector fields covered across the problem statements. The challenge
received 1,066 applications from across the country. Several mentorship workshops with over 400
recognized agritech startups were conducted. Thereafter, multiple screenings and interviews
were conducted, 20 innovative ideas were finalized for up-scaling. The final 20 winners included
10 idea stage startups and 10 enterprise stage startups. The idea stage startups were incubated
for 3 months to take their idea to the prototype development stage, whereas the enterprise stage
startups underwent an acceleration for 3 months to make their products market-ready.

18
Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challenge 2019
The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in partnership with Startup India,
launched the ‘Animal Husbandry Startup Grand Challengeʼ, to scout for innovative and
commercially viable solutions to address the problems faced by the animal husbandry
and dairy sector. The challenge was launched by Honʼble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra
Modi, on 11th September, 2019 at a national animal disease control programme in Mathura.

The challenge was open for application to all startups with unique solutions for six problem
statements- Value added products, Single use plastic alternatives, Eliminating milk adulteration,
Breed improvement and animal nutrition, E-commerce solutions, and Product traceability.
157 applications were received across problem statements, out of which 12 startups were selected
after the third and final round of evaluation.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) provided innovative startups with:

Cash Grants: Two winners under each problem

statement has been awarded with cash grants worth

INR 10 Lakh (Winner)

INR 7 Lakh (Runner-up)

Mentorship R S.1 0 L AKH

Incubation Program

19
National Startup Award 2020

Startup India launched National Startup Awards 2020 in December 2019 with an aim to recognize
and reward outstanding startups and ecosystem enablers that are building innovative products
or solutions and scalable enterprises, with high potential of employment generation, wealth
creation, and demonstrating measurable social impact. 12 sectors in total were identified in
which startups are thriving and were further divided into 35 categories and 3 special categories.
Parameters on which applicants were evaluated included innovation, scalability, inclusiveness
& diversity, economic impact, social impact, and environmental impact. Out of the 12 identified
sectors, Agriculture was one of the priority sectors in which over 150 applications were received
across the four categories – Farmer Engagement and Education, Post-Harvest, Productivity, and
Allied Areas (Fisheries, Poultry, Animal Husbandry, etc.).

20
Mandya Organic Foods Private Limited
- Farmer Engagement and Education
- Organic Mandya was started to help farmers create a self-sufficient lifestyle by adopting
chemical-free farming. However, the market at the time proved insufficient for the farmers
that took up the initiative, so Organic Mandyaʼs sales platform was put into place.
- After the first organic farmer's supermarket in Mandya, the brand today owns and operates
about seven of them across Mandya and Bangalore.

Intello Labs Private Limited

- Post-Harvest
- Intello Labs has digitized food quality assessments across fresh produce supply chains, in
order to ensure that a food itemʼs price means its quality is on par. The digitization has made
the system more cost-effective; itʼs standardized and accurate and is faster and scalable.

Nava Design & Innovation Private Limited

- Productivity
- The startup developed SAPER, a device that automates the process of tapping and collection
of sap, controlled via a wireless network powered by solar electricity.

Cornext Agri Products Private Limited

- Allied Areas
- Cornext addresses the green fodder shortage in India caused by the reduction in grazing
lands and inconsistent crop practices. Cornext preserves green fodder when available, in the
form of silage. During a shortage, these silage bales cater to a larger number of dairy farmers
across the country.

21
Incubator, Accelerates & Institutes

22
Active Investors

23
10. THE STAKEHOLDERS CORNER
Mandya Organic Foods Private Limited

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consumerwho whoisisaware
awareofofthe
thefood
foodthat
thatthey
theyconsume
consumeand and
the
the
supply
supply chain
chain behind
behindevery
everyproduce
produce that
thatgets
getsdelivered
delivered toto
them.
them. Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs have
have identified
identified
various
various gaps
gapsinin
this
this
value
valuechain
chainand
andarearenow
nowconverting
converting these
thesegaps
gaps into
into
opportunities.
opportunities. Right
Rightfrom
from
digitizing
digitizingfarming
farming portfolio
portfolio
management
management toto
a B2C
a B2C app-
app- This
This
sector
sectorisis
full
full
ofof
prospects
prospects totooptimize
optimize
and
andimprove
improvethe thetypical
typicalagriculture
agriculturepractice
practiceininIndia!
India!

Your
Yourstartup
startupisisdoing
doingsome
somegreatgreatwork
workininthe
theecosystem.
ecosystem.If Ifwe
wewere
weretotorewind
rewindthe
theclock
clocka alittle
little
and
andunderstand
understandfrom fromyou
youhowhowdid
didyour
yourpassion
passionforforthe
thesector
sectorgerminate?
germinate?WhatWhatisisthe
theproblem
problem
statement
statement your
your startup
startupisissolving?
solving? (Max 150 words)

Our
Ourfounder,
founder,Madhu
MadhuChandan
Chandanhails hailsfrom
fromMandya
Mandya(which
(whichwaswasonce
onceoneoneofofthe therichest
richestand
and
prosperous
prosperoustowns
townsininKarnataka)
Karnataka)Madhu
Madhuwas wasworking
workingononhishisown
ownITITstartup
startupininthe
theSilicon
SiliconValley.
Valley.
During
Duringone
oneofof
his
his
trips
trips
toto
India,
India,
hehediscovered
discovered that
that
most
most ofof
the
the
youth
youth from
fromsmaller
smaller towns
towns around
around
Bangalore
Bangalorewere
weremigrating
migratingtotothe thecity
cityfor
forodd
oddjobs,
jobs,leaving
leavingbehind
behinda alegacy
legacyofoffarming.
farming.This
This
24
bothered
botheredMadhu
Madhuand andprobed
probedhim
himtotogogoback
backtotohis
histown
towntotostart
starta afarmerʼs
farmerʼscooperative
cooperativesociety.
society.
A Aland
landonce
oncerich
richininsoil
soiland
andwater
waterwas wasconverted
convertedtotoa abarren
barrenslush
slushdue duetotoexcessive
excessivechemical
chemical
farming.
farming.Madhu
Madhuvowed
vowedtotomake
makeMandya
Mandyaorganic
organicandandhashasever
eversince
sincebeenbeenworking
workingononthis
thisdream!
dream!

We
Wenow
nowseeseeseveral
severalenablers
enablerssuch
suchasasincubators,
incubators,accelerators,
accelerators,government
governmentbodies
bodiesthat
thatare
are
providing
providingsector-focused
sector-focused assistance.
assistance.
How
How dodo
you
you
think
think
various
various
stakeholders
stakeholders
(private/public)
(private/public)
are
are
working
workingtotouplift
upliftthe
theecosystem?
ecosystem?(Max 150 words)

The
Thepublic
publicand
andthe
theprivate
privatesectors
sectorshave
havebeen
beenplaying
playinga apivotal
pivotalrole
roleininenhancing
enhancingthe thefarming
farming
ecosystem.
ecosystem.Lately,
Lately,the
thepublic
publicsector
sectorhas
haspaid
paidkeen
keenattention
attentiontotothetheneeds
needsofofthetheproducers.
producers.
The
Thegovernment
governmenthas hasreleased
releasedmultiple
multipleschemes
schemesand andpolicies
policiestotouplift
upliftthethefarmers.
farmers.AtAtthe
thesame
same
time,
time,NABARD,
NABARD,ATMA,
ATMA,KVK,KVK,andandsimilar
similargovernment
governmentand andnon-governmental
non-governmentalorganizations
organizationshave have
been
beenworking
workingrelentlessly
relentlesslytotoprovide
providethe
theFarmers
Farmerswith
withbetter
betteraccess
accesstotoinformation,
information,technology,
technology,
market,
market,and
and entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial opportunities.
opportunities. On
Onthe
the
other
otherhand,
hand,private
private organizations
organizations and
andstartups
startups
have
havebeen
beentaking
takinginitiative
initiativetotoinnovate,
innovate,optimize
optimizeand
anddigitize
digitizethe
thejourney
journeyfrom froma aproducer
producertotoa a
consumer.
consumer.

There is no doubt that entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector has seen a huge surge but there
is still a lot of potentials to be untapped. Several startups like yours are working to bridge the gap in
the agriculture ecosystem be it in farmer engagement, post-harvest, productivity, fisheries, animal
husbandry, etc. In the next 5 years, how do you think the agri-startup ecosystem will evolve? What
are the three opportunity areas for startups to work in the agriculture sector today?

The startups today are predominantly working on farmer engagement, middlemen crisis, credit,
and market access. This is just the tip of the farming iceberg! We are yet to tap into multiple issues
that hinder the growth of a producer.

Farmers and farmer groups need to own the value chain and not remain as a raw material producer
in the giant food processing industry

Optimizing the supply chain in the sector

Agriculture from the perspective of climate change. Awareness and implementation support to
Farmers to adopt sustainable and low carbon footprint generating farming practices.

Pranav Prabhu

Head of Origin initiative by Organic Mandya

25
Nava Design & Innovation Private Limited

The agriculture sector has gone through the blue revolution, yellow revolution, green revolution,
and white revolution. Additionally, as per Startup India, the number of startups recognized in
the agriculture sector has witnessed a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately
74% from 2017 to 2019. The ecosystem has evolved immensely. What is the Indian agriculture
ecosystem for you today? How do you think the agriculture entrepreneurial ecosystem has
evolved over the years? What do you think are the factors behind the boost in the agricultural
entrepreneurial ecosystem?

Agriculture ecosystem in India has seen rapid growth over the past few years and itʼs encouraging
that the number of Agri startups is growing significantly. Agriculture entrepreneurs are an
essential part to feed the ever-growing current & future population. However, there is a scope
of improvements and more investments need to be pumped into this sector. Most of the
Agri-startups are based on hardware & require a lot of technological expertise hence need
more time & money as compared to the software startups. Investors in the agriculture sector
should understand these concerns and need the patience to boost the agrarian ecosystem.
Mechanization & automation is the only way out to increase the productivity and to generate
better income for the agriculture entrepreneurs.

Your startup is doing some great work in the ecosystem. If we were to rewind the clock a little
and understand from you how did your passion for the sector germinate? What is the problem
statement your startup is solving?

We have developed the “Worldʼs First Coconut Sap Tapping Robot -SAPER” which has patents
granted in 28 countries including India. Sap Tappers have to climb 60 ft tall tree 3 times a day to
collect 1.5 liters of sap from 1 coco flower. An average of 10 trees to be tapped to meet the daily
targets and ends up climbing 30 times in a day. Tree climbing is a high exertion low-paid job
mostly considered as a low cast job and involves high mortality rates. Value-added products from

26
coconut sap like coconut sugar, coco honey, syrup, coconut cider vinegar, etc have gained high
global demand due to their low Glycemic Index and nutritional values. In spite of the high demand,
the production is low due to the severe shortage of skilled manpower. Tapping is a traditionally
acquired skill passed from one generation to another but the new generation people donʼt want
to take up this arduous job and are opting for easy jobs. The robotic sap tapping device needs
just 2 climbs, one for installation & 2nd for dismantling. Once installed, the device will do the
entire tapping process by itself and the fresh coconut sap can be collected at the ground level.
An increase in sap production will rejuvenate the cottage industries to produce value-added
products and promotes women's empowerment.

We now see several enablers such as incubators, accelerators, government bodies that are
providing sector-focused assistance. How do you think various stakeholders (private/public) are
working to uplift the ecosystem?

We have experienced good support from the Maker Village under MeiTY-KSUM as our incubators
and Startup India is doing a great job to uplift the startup ecosystem in India. We had received
fund supports from the BIRAC scheme & from Millenium Alliance which is a consortium of partners
(Public-Private Partnership) including the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India,
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI), UK Governmentʼs Department for International Development
(DFID), Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation.

There is no doubt that entrepreneurship in the agriculture sector has seen a huge surge but there
is still a lot of potentials to be untapped. Several startups like yours are working to bridge the gap in
the agriculture ecosystem be it in farmer engagement, post-harvest, productivity, fisheries, animal
husbandry, etc. In the next 5 years, how do you think the agri-startup ecosystem will evolve? What
are the three opportunity areas for startups to work in the agriculture sector today?

The agri-startup ecosystem is expected to have a “V-shaped growth” with support from the
Government of India in the next 5 years. Automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning
(ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be the key growth contributors in the agriculture sector.

Charles Vijay Varghese

Founder / CEO

27
Intello Labs Private Limited

The
The
agriculture
agriculture sector
sector
has
hasgone
gonethrough
through the
theblue
bluerevolution,
revolution, yellow
yellow
revolution,
revolution, green
green revolution,
revolution,
and
andwhite
whiterevolution.
revolution.Additionally,
Additionally,asasper
perStartup
StartupIndia,
India,the
thenumber
numberofofstartups
startupsrecognized
recognizedinin
the
the
agriculture
agriculturesector
sectorhas
haswitnessed
witnessed aaCompound
Compound Annual
Annual Growth
Growth Rate
Rate(CAGR)
(CAGR) ofof
approximately
approximately
74%
74%from
from2017
2017toto2019.
2019.The
Theecosystem
ecosystemhas hasevolved
evolvedimmensely.
immensely.WhatWhatisisthe
theIndian
Indianagriculture
agriculture
ecosystem
ecosystemfor foryou
youtoday?
today?HowHowdodoyouyouthink
thinkthe
theagriculture
agricultureentrepreneurial
entrepreneurialecosystem
ecosystemhas has
evolved
evolvedover
overthe
theyears?
years?What
Whatdodoyou
youthink
thinkare
arethe
thefactors
factorsbehind
behindthe
theboost
boostininthe
theagricultural
agricultural
entrepreneurial
entrepreneurialecosystem?
ecosystem? (Max 150 words)

The
TheIndian
IndianAgriculture
Agricultureentrepreneurial
entrepreneurialecosystem
ecosystemhas hassignificantly
significantlyimproved
improvedininthe therecent
recentpast.
past.
Now,
Now,there
thereareare
multiple
multipleinvestors
investors (e.g.
(e.g.
Omnivore,
Omnivore, Ankur
AnkurCapital)
Capital)and
and accelerators/incubators
accelerators/incubators (e.g.
(e.g.
Indigram,
Indigram,ICRISAT)
ICRISAT)supporting
supportingthe thestart-ups.
start-ups.Large
Largecorporates
corporates(e.g.
(e.g.Marico)
Marico)arearealso
alsoconsciously
consciously
engaging
engaging with
with start-ups,
start-ups,toto
work
workononpilots.
pilots.
The
The
sector
sectorthat
that
waswassosoun-glamorous
un-glamorous a few
a few years
years
back
back
has
has
gotgot
the
thelimelight
limelightnow.
now. Increasingly,
Increasingly,engineering
engineering talent
talent
isis
keen
keen totowork
workinin
the
theagri-tech
agri-tech space.
space.
Given
Giventhe
theway
way some
someofofthe
thestartups
startupshave
havescaled
scaledreally
really
well
well
inin
the
thespace,
space,there
thereisisa alotlot
ofof
optimism
optimism
and
andenthusiasm
enthusiasmaround.
around.AndAndwe welook
lookforward
forwardtotomore
moreexciting
excitingtimes
timesininthe
thefuture.
future.

Your
Yourstartup
startupisisdoing
doingsome
somegreatgreatwork
workininthe
theecosystem.
ecosystem.If Ifwe
wewere
weretotorewind
rewindthe
theclock
clocka alittle
little
and
andunderstand
understandfrom fromyou
youhowhowdid
didyour
yourpassion
passionforforthe
thesector
sectorgerminate?
germinate?WhatWhatisisthe
theproblem
problem
statement
statement your
your startup
startupisissolving?
solving? (Max 150 words)

Winning
Winningtender
tenderwith
withRajasthan
RajasthanGovt
Govt& &seeing
seeingthetheimpact
impactourourtech
techcancancreate
createininthe
thesupply
supplychain
chain
bybydigitizing
digitizing
quality
qualityassaying
assaying and
andcreating
creatingquality
quality
definition
definition&& democratizing
democratizing the
theprocess
process toto
bring
bring
transparency
transparencyininthe thesupply
supplychain.
chain.While
Whilewe
wethought
thoughtit itwould
wouldtake
takelonger
longertotoreach
reachfarmers
farmerswith
witha a
top-down
top-downapproach
approachstarting
startingwith
withhelping
helpingretailers
retailerswith
withcustomer
customerexperience
experienceand andprocurement,
procurement,
with
withcovid,
covid,wewefast-tracked
fast-trackedquality
qualitybase
basetrade
tradeenabling
enablingmarketplace
marketplace

We
Wenow
nowsee
seeseveral
severalenablers
enablerssuch
suchasasincubators,
incubators,accelerators,
accelerators,government
governmentbodies
bodiesthat
thatare
are

28
providing
providingsector-focused
sector-focused assistance.
assistance.
How
How
dodo
you
you
think
think
various
various
stakeholders
stakeholders
(private/public)
(private/public)
are
are
working
workingtotouplift
upliftthe
theecosystem?
ecosystem?(Max 150 words)

Yes,
Yes,it itisisgreat
greattotosee
seethethesupport
supportcoming
comingfrom fromvarious
variousstakeholders.
stakeholders.AsAsananexample,
example,oneoneofofthe
the
accelerators
acceleratorswe weareareassociated
associatedwith
withIndigram
IndigramLabs
Labsinvested
investedmoney
moneyininususasaswell
wellasashelped
helpedusus
with
withsales
sales leads.
leads.Other
Other incubators
incubatorshave
have also
also
been
beenvery
very
supportive
supportive
- connecting
- connecting corporate
corporate clients
clients
who
whoare arekeenkeentotopilot
pilotnew
newtechnologies,
technologies,connecting
connectingFPOs
FPOswho
whocould
couldbebeearly
earlyadopters,
adopters,eveneven
connecting
connectingusustotorelevant
relevant government
government bodies.
bodies.

There
Thereisisnonodoubt
doubtthat
thatentrepreneurship
entrepreneurshipininthe theagriculture
agriculturesector
sectorhas
hasseen
seena ahuge
hugesurge
surgebut
butthere
there
isis
still
still
a lot
a lot
ofof
potentials
potentials toto
bebe
untapped.
untapped. Several
Severalstartups
startupslike
like
yours
yoursare
are
working
workingtoto
bridge
bridgethe
thegap
gapinin
the
theagriculture
agriculture ecosystem
ecosystem bebeit it
inin
farmer
farmerengagement,
engagement, post-harvest,
post-harvest, productivity,
productivity,
fisheries,
fisheries,
animal
animal
husbandry,
husbandry,etc. etc.
InIn
the
thenext
next55years,
years,how
howdodoyou
youthink
think
the
the
agri-startup
agri-startup ecosystem
ecosystem will
will
evolve?
evolve?What
What
are
arethe thethree
threeopportunity
opportunityareasareasforforstartups
startupstotowork
workininthetheagriculture
agriculturesector
sectortoday?
today?(Max 150
words)

InInthe
thenext
next 5 5years,
years,the
theindustry
industry
will
will
move
movetowards
towardsproviding
providingcomplete
completedigital
digitalsolutions
solutionstotocritical
critical
issues
issueslike
likefood
foodwastage,
wastage,landlandutilization,
utilization,market
marketlinkage,
linkage,and
andcredit
credit
availability.
availability.

Himani Shah
Himani Shah

Co-founder & CFO

Co-founder & CFO

29
Villgro

What
What
What
isisthe
isthe
the
Indian
Indian
Indianagriculture
agriculture
agriculture
ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem
for
for
for
you
you
you
today?
today?
today?
How
How
How
dododo
you
you
you
think
think
think
the
the
the
agriculture
agriculture
agriculture
entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem has
has
has
evolved
evolved
evolved
over
over
over
the
the
the
years
years
years
and
and
and
what
what
what
dododo
you
you
you
think
think
think
are
are
are
the
the
the
factors
factors
factors
behind
behind
behind
thethethe
boost
boost
boost
ininthe
inthe
the
agricultural
agricultural
agricultural
entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial
ecosystem?
ecosystem?
ecosystem?(Max
(Max 150
150words)
words)

I see
I see
I see
the
the
the
agricultural
agricultural
agricultural ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem encompassing
encompassing
encompassing thethethe
entire
entire
entire
agriculture
agriculture
agriculture value
value
value
including
including
includingfinancing,
financing,
financing,
post
post
post
harvest
harvest
harvestandand
and
supply
supply
supplychain.
chain.
chain. AAsignificant
A
significant
significant portion
portion
portionisis
contributed
is
contributed
contributed byby
animal
byanimal
animal
husbandry
husbandry
husbandry and
and
and
allied
allied
allied
sectors.
sectors.
sectors.
This
This
This
ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem hashashas
grown
grown
grown bybyleaps
byleaps
leaps
andand
and
bounds
bounds
bounds totobecome
tobecome
become one
oneone
ofofthe
ofthethe
most
most
most
vibrant
vibrant
vibrant
andandand
innovative
innovative
innovativeininIndia
inIndia
India
today.
today.
today.It Ithas
Ithas
has
evolved
evolved
evolved dramatically
dramatically
dramatically from
from
from
thethe
the
earlier
earlier
earlier
focus
focus
focusononongrassroots
grassroots
grassroots level
level
level
organisations
organisations
organisations and
and
and
FPOs.
FPOs.
FPOs.
Many
Many
Many players
players
playershave
have
have
come
come
cometogether
together
together totomake
tomake
make
this
this
this
ongoing
ongoing
ongoing transformation
transformation
transformation
happen
happen
happen - -the
-thethe
government
government
government with
with
with
significant
significant
significant policy
policy
policylevel
level
level
support,
support,
support,
interest
interest
interest from
from
fromcorporates
corporates
corporates ininin
aggregation,
aggregation,
aggregation, supply
supply
supply chain
chain
chain
and andand
food
food
foodsafety;
safety;
safety;
from
from
fromfinanciers
financiers
financiers who
who
who
are
areare
exploring
exploring
exploring various
various
various
models
models
models
across
across
across
the
the
the
value
value
value
chain,
chain,
chain,
andand
and
venture
venture
venture capitalists
capitalists
capitalists
who
whowho
have
have
have
deployed
deployed
deployed significant
significant
significant risk
risk
risk
capital
capital
capital
totoback
toback
back
many
many
manyhomegrown
homegrown
homegrown innovators.
innovators.
innovators. A Alot
Alotlot
still
still
still
needs
needs
needstotobe
tobedone
bedone
done
butbutbut
the
the
the
contours
contours
contours ofofthe
ofthe
the
plan
plan
plan
andand
and
thethethe
building
building
building
blocks
blocks
blocks are
are
are
ininplace.
inplace.
place.

WeWeWe
now
now
now
see
see
see
several
several
several
enablers
enablers
enablers like
like
like
yours
yours
yours
providing
providing
providing
sector-focused
sector-focused
sector-focused
assistance.
assistance.
assistance.
How
How
How
dodo
you
do
you
you
think
think
think
the
the
the
landscape
landscape
landscape
ofofenablers
ofenablers
enablers
ininthe
inthe
the
ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem has
has
has
evolved
evolved
evolved
over
over
over
the
the
the
years
years
years
and
and
and
where
where
where
are
are
are
wewewe
atat
inat
intodayʼs
intodayʼs
todayʼs
day
day
day
and
and
and
time?
time?
time?(Max
(Max150
150words)
words)

TheThe The agriculture

agriculture
agriculture sector
sector
sector hashashas
many
many
manysupporters
supporters
supporters - -focused
-focused
focused venture
venture
venture capitalists,
capitalists,
capitalists, financial
financial
financial institutions
institutions
institutions
andand and many
many
manyresearch
research
research organizations.
organizations.
organizations. InInmy
Inmymy
opinion,
opinion,
opinion,their
their
their
thinking
thinking
thinking and
and
and
areas
areas
areas
ofofinterest
ofinterest
interesthave
have
have
become
become
become
sharper.
sharper.
sharper. There
There
There
isismore
ismore
more specialization
specialization
specializationnow
nownow
and
andand
there
there
there
isisincreasing
isincreasing
increasinginterest
interest
interest inindifferent
indifferent
differentkinds
kinds
kinds
ofofof
business
business
business models.
models.
models.It It
hasIt
hashas
been
been
been
aa
process
a
process
processofofevolution
of
evolution
evolution where
where
where earlier
earlier
earlier
ecosystem
ecosystem
ecosystem enablers
enablers
enablers focused
focused
focusedononon
simple
simple
simple andandandknown
known
known models.
models.
models. Data
Data
Data
was
was
was
scarcer.
scarcer.
scarcer.NowNowNow
data
data
data
isisvalued
isvalued
valued
right.
right.
right.
Institutions
Institutions
Institutions are
are
are
willing
willing
willing
tototo
paypay payforfor
it.
forit.
Where
it.
Where
Where
earlier
earlier
earlier
it it
wasit
waswas
expected
expected
expectedthat
that
that
the
thethe
farmer
farmer
farmer
waswaswas
expected
expected
expectedforfor
all
for
allthese
all
these
these
kinds
kinds
kinds
ofof
services,
of
services,
services,
it itisitiscommonplace
iscommonplace
commonplace forforfor
intermediaries
intermediaries
intermediaries totodo
todoso
dosonow.
sonow.now.
These
These
Thesedemonstrate
demonstrate
demonstrate a alevel
alevel
level
ofofmaturity
ofmaturity
maturity
and
and
and
asasas
thethe the
current
current
current infrastructure
infrastructure
infrastructure supports
supports
supports
the
the
the
generation
generation
generation ofof
greater
of
greater
greateramounts
amounts
amounts ofofdata,
of
data,
data,it it
will
it
will
will
only
only
only
benefit
benefit
benefit
allallall

30
the
thestakeholders
thestakeholders
and
and
stakeholders the
andthecountry.
country.
the country.

What
Whatdodo
What you
doyouthink
youthink
are
are
think five
five
are key
key
five areas
keyareasofof
areas support
support
of the
the
support agri-entrepreneurship
agri-entrepreneurship
the ecosystem
ecosystem
agri-entrepreneurship requires
ecosystemrequires
that
that
requires that
the
theenabler
enabler
the should
enablershouldbebeproviding?
should beproviding? (Max
providing? 150150
(Max words)
words)

Access
Access
Accesstototo
farmer
farmer aggregation
farmer aggregationorganisations
aggregationorganisations & &extension
organisations &extension
extensionservices
services
services- -Pilot
-Pilotpartnerships
Pilotpartnerships
partnerships
with
with
withFPOs,
FPOs,
FPOs,implementation
implementation
implementationNGOs
NGOs
NGOsand
and
andother
other
othercollectives
collectives
collectiveseg.
eg.eg.Cultyvate
Cultyvate
Cultyvate& & &CIPT
CIPT
CIPT- - -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkGxxpRPAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkGxxpRPAY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDkGxxpRPAY

Innovative
Innovative financing
Innovative financing
financingsolutions
solutions
solutions- -Early-stage
-Early-stage start-ups
Early-stage start-ups
start-ups often
oftenface
often face a aworking
face aworking
working capital
capitalcrunch,
capitalcrunch,
crunch,
especially
especiallywhen
especially when they
when theyare
theyarelaunching
arelaunching
launching products
products
productsand
andhithithit
and thethegrowth
thegrowth
growthstage.
stage. This
stage.This can
Thiscanbebeminimized
can beminimized
minimized
byby
enablers,
enablers,
by via
enablers, via
different
different
via risk
differentrisk
reduction
reduction
risk reductionmodels.
models.
models.eg.
eg.
Villgroʼs
Villgroʼs
eg. First
VillgroʼsFirst
Loss
FirstLossDefault
LossDefault Guarantee
Default Guarantee
Guarantee(FLDG)
(FLDG)
(FLDG)
structure
structureisisenabling
structure isenabling innovators/startups
enabling innovators/startups
innovators/startups totoaccess
toaccess
accessaffordable
affordable
affordablefinance
finance
financefor
forworking
forworking capital
working capitalononon
capital
easy
easyand
easyand
simple
andsimple
simpleterms.
terms.
terms.

Building
Building
Building a astrong
astrongsupply
strongsupply chain
supplychain - -Most
chain -Mostinnovations
Mostinnovations
innovationsare
areininrural
are inruralareas,
areas,
rural since
areas,sincethat
sincethatisiswhere
that iswhere
food
wherefood
food
production
production
production happens.
happens. Enabling
happens. Enablingthese
Enablingthese start-ups
these start-upstoto
start-ups create
create
to oror
create taptap
or into
tapinto
a well-developed
a well-developed
into a well-developed supply
supply
chain
chain
supply chain
isiscritical
iscritical
for
criticalforthem
them
for totosustain.
them tosustain.
sustain.

Ecosystem
Ecosystem
Ecosystemengagement
engagement
engagement for
forawareness
awareness
for awarenessand
and
and collaboration
collaboration- -Popularizing
collaboration -Popularizinginnovations
Popularizing innovationswith
innovationswith
with
corporates,
corporates,universities,
universities,
corporates, policy
policy
universities, makers
policymakers
etc.
makersetc.
totosolve
etc. tosolve
a acommon
solve acommonproblem.
common problem.
problem.

While
Whilethere
Whilethereare
therearesector-focused
sector-focused
are enablers
sector-focused enablers
ininthe
enablers inthe ecosystem
theecosystem
ecosystem today,
today,what
what
today, isisyour
what isyour
vision
yourvisionofofthe
vision ofthe
the
agri-entrepreneurship
agri-entrepreneurship
agri-entrepreneurshipenabler
enabler
ecosystem
enablerecosystemininthe
ecosystem inthenext
thenext5 5years?
next 5years?
(Max
years? 150150
(Max words)
words)

AsAsthe
Asthedifferent
thedifferent
different parts
parts ofofthe
parts ofthe ecosystem
the ecosystem
ecosystem innovate
innovate
innovate and and and develop
develop
develop atatdifferent
atdifferent
different rates,
rates, there
rates, there isisaisarisk
there ariskofofof
risk
developing
developing
developing ininsilos.
insilos. This
silos. Thiswould
This would
would preclude
preclude
preclude thethe opportunity
theopportunity
opportunity forfora anetwork
for anetwork
network effect
effect totokick
effect tokick in.in.Over
kick in.Over
Overthethe
the
next
nextfew
nextfewyears,
few years, I hope
years, I hope
I hopetoto
see
tosee the
see thedifferent
thedifferent
differentenablers
enablers
enablers cooperate
cooperate
cooperate andand collaborate
and collaborate
collaborate with
with each
with each
eachother
other
otherforfor
for
the
thegreater
thegreater good.
greater good.
good. I would
I would
I wouldlike
liketoto
like see
see
to each
seeeach
eachofofusus
of contribute
us contribute
contribute data,
data, insights
data, insights
insightsandand access
and access
access totonetworks
tonetworks
networks tototo
each
each other.
each other.The
other.The challenges
The challenges
challenges faced
faced byby
faced the
the
by sector
the sector inin
sector the the
in face
the face
faceofofclimate
ofclimate
climatechange
change
change and
and the
and the pressures
thepressures
pressures ononon
resources
resources
resources are
arecomplex.
are complex.
complex. These
These
These can
canonly
can onlybebesolved
only besolved
solved if ifallifallof
allofus
ofuscome
uscomecometogether.
together.
together. I see
I see such
I see such
sucha anetwork
anetwork
network
being
being supported
being supported
supported bybypolicy
bypolicy
policy andand hope
and hope
hopetotosee
tosee Villgro
see Villgro
Villgro bebefullybefully integrated
fully integrated
integrated ininsuch
insuch a anetwork.
such anetwork.
network. Villgro
Villgro
Villgro
looks
looksforward
looksforward
forwardtotosupporting
tosupporting
supporting entrepreneurs
entrepreneurs
entrepreneurs totoatoagreater
agreater
greater degree
degree
degree and
and ininmore
and inmore
moreways
ways
ways ininthe
inthe coming
the coming
coming
decade.
decade.
decade.

How does impact, profitability, and scalability of a business guide your incubation & investment
How does
How impact,
does profitability,
impact, andand
profitability, scalability of aof
scalability business guide
a business your
guide incubation
your & investment
incubation & investment
bets as you try to solve the riddles of inequity and financial inclusion in diverse Indian states of
bets as you
bets try to
as you trysolve thethe
to solve riddles of inequity
riddles andand
of inequity financial inclusion
financial in diverse
inclusion Indian
in diverse states
Indian of of
states
1.3 billion people? How you are developing others to reach at these points.
1.3 billion people?
1.3 billion people?How youyou
How arearedeveloping others
developing to reach
others at these
to reach points.
at these (Max
points. 150150
(Max words)
words)
31
Our
Our
Our
incubation
incubation
incubation& &investment
&investment
investmentstrategy
strategy
strategy
operates
operates
operatesatatthe
atthe
the
very
very
very
intersection
intersection
intersection
ofofinherent
ofinherent
inherent
social
social
social
impact,
impact,
impact,market
market
marketopportunity,
opportunity,
opportunity,business
business
businessviability,
viability,
viability,
and
and
andinnovation.
innovation.
innovation.
The
The
The
three
three
three
sectors
sectors
sectors
wewewe
work
work
work
in—agribusiness,
in—agribusiness,
in—agribusiness, healthcare,
healthcare,
healthcare,
and
and
and
climate
climate
climate
action—are
action—are
action—are large
large
large
sectors
sectors
sectors
with
with
with
tremendous
tremendous
tremendous scope
scope
scope
for
for
for
incubation,
incubation,
incubation,
investment
investment
investment and
and
and
impact.
impact.
impact.

InIn
the
In
the
the
past
past
past
2020years,
20years,
years,
the
the
the
315+
315+
315+
companies
companies
companies we wewe
have
have
have
incubated
incubated
incubated
and
andand
invested
invested
invested
have
have
have
gone
gone
gone
onon
to
on
to
raise
to
raise
raise
RsRs4,296
Rs4,296
4,296
million
million
million
(minimum
(minimum
(minimum 7 7times
7times
times
more
more
more
totoour
toour
our
investment)
investment)
investment)
ininfollow-on
infollow-on
follow-on
investments,
investments,
investments,
created
created
created
over
over
over
4,500
4,500
4,500
jobs
jobs
jobs
and
and
and
impacted
impacted
impacted2020million
20million
million
lives.
lives.
lives.

Villgro
Villgro
Villgro
isisworking
isworking
working
simultaneously
simultaneously
simultaneously
with
with
with
other
other
other
incubators
incubators
incubatorsasaswell
aswell
well
through
through
throughIncubating
Incubating
IncubatingIncubators
Incubators
Incubators
Program.
Program.
Program. Here
Here
Here
wewewe
are
are
are
handholding
handholding
handholding
& &mentoring
&mentoring
mentoringother
other
other
incubators
incubators
incubatorsininsetting
insetting
setting
upuptheir
uptheir
their
incubation
incubation
incubation
& &investment
&investment
investment model.
model.
model.

Mohammad
MohammadAzhar
Azhar
Mohammad Azhar

Lead
Lead- Government
Lead- Government
Programs
Programs
- Government & &Incubating
Programs &IncubatingIncubators
IncubatingIncubators
Incubators

Villgro
Villgro
Villgro

32
11. AUTHORS

Palak Kaur Bhatia Ashutosh Kothari

Navjeet Kumar Aishwariya Chauhan

33