Unnati Agri Raises INR 28.5 Cr To Help Farmers With Sustainable Farming Practices

Agriculture supply chain and financial services startup Unnati Agri has partnered strategically with IPL Biologicals to focus on climate-ready products. The agritech startup has also raised INR 28.5 Cr ($3.47 Mn) in its Pre-Series B funding round led by the family office of IPL Biologicals as part of the tie-up.

Existing investors, including Incofin Investment Management, Nabventures and Orios, also participated in the funding round. Unnati Agri has raised INR 88.5 Cr ($10.76 Mn) in funding so far, including the current round.

With the incoming funds, Unnati Agri will expand its product line by forming a joint go-to-market arrangement with IPL Biologicals with a focus on sustainable products. The latter has a range of patented products, including microbial and biological nutrition, biocontrol and soil and plant stimulants.

Founded in 2017 by Ashok Prasad and Amit Sinha, Unnati Agri offers agronomy services (a branch of agriculture dealing with crop production and soil management) to farmers with agri-inputs and multiple crop selling options. 

Unnati also has a fintech arm, Ora Finance, which recently earned its NBFC licence and fulfils the working capital requirements of farmers.

Speaking on the fundraise, Prasad said, “After bolstering our tech infrastructure and growing the uStore network, we are set to expand our sustainable product portfolio across India. Through this partnership with IPL Biologicals, we can help farmers adopt more sustainable farming practices backed by a range of the latest bio-products.”

Harsh Vardhan Bhagchandka, president of IPL Biologicals, added, “IPL Biologicals has been at the forefront of sustainable and climate-ready farming in India. IPL Biologicals’ strong technology-driven approach to sustainable products, with Unnati’s distribution reach, will accelerate the adoption of bioproducts in India.”

The agritech startup aims to grow by expanding its network. Currently, the startup claims to serve more than 1.2 Mn farmers via its network of more than 75,000 uStores, to reach 5 Mn farmers in the short term.

Unnati said the current focus was on expanding the full suite of services across the supply chain and financial services for all the stakeholders in the agriculture ecosystem.

Per Inc42 data, agritech startups in India have raised $2.1 Bn between 2014 and May 2023. This year, however, India’s agritech sector has only seen 13 funding deals, with $42.4 Mn raised across those deals.

Some of the largest agritech deals this year include Barton Breeze’s $8 Mn round in February and Agrizy’s $5 Mn round in May.