Unnati To Acquire Info Edge-Backed Agritech Startup Gramophone

SUMMARY

Info Edge will sell its entire stake in Gramophone in exchange for a 15.7% stake in Unnati

Info Edge plans to invest INR 35 Cr in Unnati post the acquisition, which will prop up its stake in the startup to 20.53%

Gramophone sells seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides, farming equipment, among others, to farmers directly and through small retailers via an omnichannel model

Agritech startup Unnati is set to acquire Info Edge-backed peer startup Gramophone.

In an exchange filing, Info Edge said its stake in Gramophone, which it holds through its wholly owned subsidiary Startup Investments (Holding) Ltd (SIHL) and currently stands at 39.58%, will increase to 50.94% prior to the transfer of the startup’s shares to Unnati.

Following this, Info Edge said it will sell its entire stake in Gramophone in exchange for a 15.7% stake in Unnati.

Info Edge also plans to invest INR 35 Cr in Unnati post the acquisition, which will prop up its stake in the startup to 20.53%. However, it noted that this will eventually come down to 18.48% once all the shareholders of Gramophone also become shareholders of Unnati to facilitate the merger of the two agritech startups.

Info Edge will sell 3.39 Lakh shares of Gramophone to Unnati, valued at INR 91.7 Cr. In exchange, it will receive 49.1K shares of Unnati, valued at INR 18,661 each. In addition, it will buy 18,756 shares of the startup for INR 35 Cr.

Set up in 2016 by Tauseef Khan and Nishant Mahatre, Gramophone sells seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides, farming equipment, among others, to farmers directly and through small retailers via an omnichannel model.

In FY25, it reported a turnover of INR 66.8 Cr, down 32.5% from INR 99 Cr reported in the previous year.

Info Edge, the listed parent company of classifieds giants like Naukri.com and Jeevansathi.com, last invested INR 15 Cr in Gramophone in 2024. Overall, Gramophone has raised over $22 Mn to date from investors like Z3Partners, Asha Impact, Chona Family Office, among others.

Unnati, which also operates in the agritech space, was founded by former Paytm CFO Amit Sinha, and is backed by many senior executives of the fintech major. It provides a digital platform for retailers to sell agri inputs to farmers.

Unnati reported a 30% jump in revenue to INR 515 Cr in FY24 from INR 397 Cr in the previous fiscal year. However, its loss also widened 27% to INR 469 Cr from INR 370 Cr in FY23.

The merger will allow both startups to combine their expertise to create a full stack agri-tech platform.