By Lynda Kiernan

Rabobank and India-based impact investor Caspian have teamed up once again in support of startups in India’s agricultural sector. 

Together, the pair are launching the Rabo-Caspian Agtech Financing Fund, a three-year fund with an initial corpus of Rs 15 cr (US$2.25 million) to provide customized debt solutions to data-driven agtech startups that will drive growth in production for India’s smallholder farmers. 

At the same time, the fund will also provide collateral-free and cash-flow matched structured finance products to startups that often find it difficult to access debt financing, but have the potential to advance data availability and the technologies needed to address the challenges faced in India’s agricultural production system.

“We are delighted to partner with Caspian to introduce the first such solution for the agritech companies in India,” said Arindom Datta, executive director, rural & development banking, Rabobank. “Caspian brings in strong origination and underwriting skills along with a deep understanding of local agriculture/technology markets.”

This is not the first time Rabo and Caspian have partnered to fund India’s ag sector. In 2015, the pair partnered to support sustainable SME agribusiness ventures in India. 

With the goal of improving the livelihoods of smallholders, under the agreement made at the time, Rabo Rural Fund partially guaranteed the loans that Caspian Impact Investment extended to sustainable agricultural operations in the country. Rabo also provided thorough knowledge of the agriculture sector and make available its international network.

 Meanwhile, Caspian Impact Investment used Rabo’s global experience in agricultural lending to establish improved models of agri-financing in the country, and to develop and grow sustainable agricultural operations across India and abroad.

Since 2015 we’ve seen investors within India’s agricultural and agtech sectors gain confidence in the country, its entrepreneurs, and its producers. This has been recently reflected in April of this year when India-based impact agrifood tech investment fund Omnivore Partners secured an investment from BASF Venture Capital (its first in India) for its second fund – Omnivore Partners India Fund 2 – that saw the fund close oversubscribed at $97 million.

“It’s a great time to be an agri-entrepreneur as data and technology revolution grips the agriculture sector in India,” said Avishek Gupta, investment director, Caspian Impact Investments. 

“We look forward to jointly ensuring that no viable agritech enterprise, which is addressing critical challenges faced by smallholder farmers is starved of funds to scale and sustain.”

 

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.