Arya.ag, an agritech startup, has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round headed by Asia Impact SA, a Luxembourg-based investment group. Existing investors, such as Lightrock India and Quona Capital, took part in the fundraising as well.

According to a top company official, the company's post-money valuation has surpassed $300 million.

According to Prasanna Rao, cofounder and MD of Arya.ag, $14 million was raised via debt from investors such as the US Development Finance Corporation (USDFC) and ResponsAbility, a Geneva-based development finance institution.

Next, the company is looking to raise $100 million to fund its expansion plans.

“Given that there has been substantial growth in our volumes and that the lending book has expanded, to be able to sustain that, we will raise more capital soon. We have already initiated a $100 million fundraise which should be done in the first half of the current calendar year,” Rao stated. “We expect the company’s revenues to reach Rs 1,000 crore over the next 24 months."

Arya is an integrated grain commerce platform that focuses on supplying post-harvest services, founded by Rao, Chattanathan Devarajan, and Anand Chandra. It has 10,000 warehouses and operates in 425 districts throughout 21 states. The corporation has a $2 billion grain inventory and has disbursed $600 million in funding each year. Its annualised revenue run rate is at Rs 300 crore.

“Through the (Covid-19) pandemic, we have seen Arya transform agri-commerce across India,” says Matteo Pusineri, director of Asia Impact SA. “Arya will help accomplish Asia Impact's vision to integrate rural under-served farming communities across Asia to markets at scale.”

It has given smallholders and their organisations a legitimate option for increasing their market power. Rao stated, “We intend to use the funding to capture more than 20% of the $100 billion grain commerce market.”

Over 3 million tonnes of grain are managed by the organisation throughout 21 states.

“They have built a strong and profitable foundation over the last few years, and with the addition of the marketplace, are in a period of accelerated growth and impact,” says Vaidhehi Ravindran, partner at Lightrock India.

Varun Malhotra, partner at Quona Capital, said "Arya is successfully bridging the trust gap in post-harvest agri transactions through complete transparency and assurance on quality, quantity and payments.”