Inside StarAgri’s INR 1,500 Cr Blueprint For Profitable Growth In Indian Agritech

Two decades since its founding, StarAgri’s core vision remains unchanged, even as India’s $878.1 Mn agritech sector grows at 10.9% annually and is projected to touch $6.15 Bn by 2033.

An increasing number of startups are working to revitalise what was once the backbone of India’s economy, yet agritech remains one of the toughest sectors to scale. Despite more than $2.8 Bn in cumulative funding since 2014, progress has been uneven and hard-won.

The reasons are well known — fragile credit systems, poor access to finance, high perceived risks, limited market access, inconsistent data, and weak recovery mechanisms have constrained farmer empowerment for decades.

The four founders – Amith Agarwal, Amit Khandelwal, Amit Goyal, and Suresh Goyal – spotted the pain points while planning StarAgri. The startup was built to simplify access to finance, warehousing, and pre- and post-harvest services, while connecting farmers directly to digital marketplaces.

Starting from rural/warehousing collateral finance and commodity broking, StarAgri has expanded to cover large parts of the agricultural value chain. “We make formal financing accessible to small and marginal farmers, against their produce, supporting those who were long overlooked by traditional lenders,” said Agarwal. 

The farm sector is expected to contribute $600 Bn to India’s GDP by 2030, rising 50% in 10 years. But the country needs to unlock growth and productivity to get there. 

Addressing the complexities of rural ecosystems — where farmers must navigate digital platforms, understand financing, and adopt efficient storage practices — StarAgri offers an integrated platform combining farmer-centric finance, structured credit assessment, and reliable warehousing access.

The startup helps farmers secure loans at competitive rates, leverage their produce for finance, and bridge the gap in traditional agri-finance and storage systems with tech as a key enabler. As StarAgri builds an ecosystem to digitally capture farmers’ produce and credit behaviour, facilitating the movement towards the creation of an industry-standard credit score, it has made its place among a few agritech startups in India that have reached sustainable profitability. 

While StarAgri became a sectoral outlier by achieving profitability since its very start, the recent growth has made strong headlines. In FY25, the startup’s consolidated revenue rose 55% to INR 1,560.4 Cr, with an EBITDA of INR 93.3 Cr, while net profit grew 47% to INR 68.47 Cr. 

The integrated agritech startup, however, kept its non-performing assets below 1%, marking an effective control over defaults and maintaining prudent credit management. In FY25, StarAgri used over 75% of its current warehousing capabilities, which pushed its assets under management and disbursals above INR 20,000 Cr. 

The startup, which operates in direct competition with companies like Arya.ag and DeHaat, also raised $50 Mn from Investcorp in 2012. In 2014, StarAgri also became one of the earliest investments by Temasek in India as their attempt to ensure ‘food security’ in the region. 

Towards Sustainable Profitability 

Although StarAgri’s balance sheet throws up the image of agritech being a profitable segment with healthy margins, it took over a decade for the startup to crack sustainable profitability in the sector. Over the years, the company has been trying to manage growth while simultaneously reaching out to more farmers to solve their key problems.

Today, StarAgri operates across pre-harvest, post-harvest, finance, and digital marketplace services and taps into almost all the aspects of a farmer’s journey. With Return on Equity (ROE) standing at over 12% and net debt being one of the lowest in the industry, with nearly zero leverage, the agritech platform aims to take its ROE beyond 18% in the coming years.

It has floated platforms like StarAgri Farms, AgriBhumi, and Agribazaar to offer farm management, agronomic insights, and input markets to generate revenue through subscriptions and transactions. 

The startup also assists farmers in lab testing, procurement, warehousing, handling their produce, and empowers them to store, trade, and monetise their harvest. The company charges service fees, storage charges, and transaction commissions from these post-harvest services.

Through its NBFC arm Agriwise, StarAgri offers a multitude of financial services to farmers, Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs), and allied agri-players, including affordable loans and warehouse receipt (WHR) financing with AI-driven credit scoring, as it earns from fees and interest income. 

“We strongly believe that every farmer should be able to access collateral-based finance at single-digit interest rates, deposit their produce directly into warehouses near their farms, and use instruments like WHR to secure financing,” Agarwal said. “We are committed to enable this with technology, better rating systems and direct warehouse linkages.”

The startup claims to have so far supported more than 5 Lakh farmers, and 30% of them are small and marginal farmers. It aims to take the count of small and marginal farmers to 1 Cr by FY30. StarAgri’s non-bank finance arm said it has so far disbursed INR 9,000 Cr, while the cumulative warehouse receipt-backed financing stands at INR 1.5 Lakh Cr. 

A StarAgri loan usually ranges from INR 5 Lakh to INR 5 Cr, with repayment leading to less than 1% in non-performing assets (NPAs). The company has been able to achieve this by building a strong tech stack that not only connects the pre- and post-harvest transactions but also assists in ensuring genuine credit appraisal and lending security. 

StarAgri’s risk assessment mechanism is based on a study of 16 years of farmer profiles, repayment patterns, and market data to assess credibility. The consolidated data allows the company to expand responsibly, reaching more farmers without compromising on the asset quality. 

StarAgri also streamlined its payment infrastructure to make on-platform payments seamless and mitigate counterparty risks. The startup also offers traceability and verification of commodities being traded using blockchain technology – all through a mobile-first ecosystem. 

The tech-led AgriBazaar platform, which more or less operates like Zoho in software, focuses on profitability, scalability, and building long-term value, rather than having a stake in the volatile agritech business.

In the warehousing business, the franchise model enabled the earnings to grow exponentially with wider margins through a franchise-owned company-operated (FOCO) model. The model leverages the company’s data, expertise, and demand-supply insights to convert long-lease warehouses into franchise-operated facilities. StarAgri’s pan-India network makes franchise warehouses easily discoverable and ensures consistent fulfilment and business flow.

“The FOCO model allows us to reduce upfront capex investments and leverage the national network for scale and operational efficiency. This asset-light strategy has helped us as well as the franchisees who benefit from a revenue-sharing mechanism,” Agarwal shared. 

As of May 2025, the company runs about 1,080 professional warehouses that it either owns, leases, or operates through revenue-sharing agreements. It also manages over 1,100 field warehouses, which stay under the borrower’s control until a lender provides financing.

StarAgri is also doubling down on its new initiatives, such as its bio-inputs businesses AgriBhumi and farm advisory services, which are showing early traction and could be put into long-term growth categories.

Will Markets Heed To The Growth Story?

StarAgri has delivered nearly 55% growth annually in both revenue and profit, signalling a steady momentum, rather than a flash in the pan. In FY25, the startup claims to have maintained a strong balance sheet with minimal leverage and one of the lowest net debt levels in the industry. 

StarAgri aims to surpass INR 2,000 Cr in FY26 turnover while improving capital efficiency and raising its return on equity from 12% to 18%, which will bring it as par with some leading fintech startups. 

The Temasek-backed harvest management startup filed its papers with SEBI late last year for raising INR 450 Cr through a public listing. Agarwal shared that StarAgri remains focussed on the IPO and clarified that the market regulator had earlier raised some queries on certain technical disclosure issues. “SEBI’s queries on the previous DRHP were mainly about typographical errors in the key performance indicators (KPIs) table and the requirement to submit credit rating certificates for both the company and its NBFC,” he said as the company prepares to refile its draft IPO papers. 

The company plans to further strengthen its business base by launching verticals such as Stocyard, which extends its warehousing expertise into non-agri-commodities, and Agrifresh, a fresh-produce platform. 

StarAgri plans to double down on sustainable expansion, rather than runaway growth. The company is aiming for a 15-20% annual growth over the next five years while staying founder-led but professionally managed, a model that helps preserve entrepreneurial agility alongside operational rigour. 

Agarwal also shared that the company is working towards building a work culture that attracts professionals who want to create value in India’s agricultural ecosystem, rather than chase short-term valuations. However, when StarAgri eventually hits Dalal Street, the valuation will come into focus. Backed by data-led lending, disciplined credit scoring, and prudent financial management, the company has positioned itself among India’s leading agritech players. 

While market response remains to be seen, StarAgri’s journey stands as a credible example of how patient, disciplined businesses can thrive in a challenging sector.