Arya.agan Indian agritech company that offers near-farm storage facilities and lending services to hundreds of thousands of farmers has attracted investor interest and remained profitable even as global crop prices continue to fall in a volatile commodity market.
Investor interest was generated in the latest round entirely of Series D by GEF Capital Partners, totaling $81 million, of which more than 70% was primary capital and the rest secondary equity sales, according to the firm.
globally, Prices of agricultural products are falling. Risks from extreme weather, input costs, trade disruptions and changes in biofuels policy continue to weigh on agricultural markets, according to the World Bank warned. This leaves businesses exposed to price fluctuations and inventory losses. Still, Arya.ag says it overcomes the worst of this strain by avoiding outright bets on commodities and using a model it says helps absorb shocks from downward price swings.
Founded in 2013 by former ICICI Bank executives Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya.ag is based on a simple idea: to give farmers more control over when and to whom they sell their crops. The Noida-based startup offers storage space close to farms, while allowing farmers to borrow against stored grain to meet immediate cash needs and connecting them to a wider group of buyers — from agribusinesses to processors and flour millers — helping them avoid the pressure to sell immediately after harvest, when prices are often weaker.
The company operates at scale, which sets Arya.ag apart from traditional lenders, banks and other agribusiness platforms. The startup says it collects and stores about $3 billion worth of grain every year — about 3 percent of national output — and facilitates about $1.5 billion in loans annually, while keeping its ratio of bad loans (known as gross non-performing assets, or NPAs) below 0.5 percent despite the recent drop in prices.
Arya.ag lends only a portion of the value of stored grain and closely monitors prices, activating margin calls when required rather than taking losses itself, Rao said. Borrowers can respond by repaying part of the loan or adding more grains as collateral.
“You are not immune to risk,” Rao told TechCrunch. “But since your borrowing is fully secured against commodities, it will never happen that prices fall by 90%. You already have 30% margin and with your mark in the market, you have been able to control your NPAs and defaults.”
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In the year ending March 2025, Arya.ag generated net revenue of ₹4.5 billion (about $50 million), with revenue for the first half of the current fiscal year up about 30% from a year earlier to ₹3 billion ($33.3 million). Profit after tax stood at ₹340 million (about $3.78 million) last year and has grown a further 39 percent so far this year, Rao said.
Arya.ag says it now reaches between 850,000 and 900,000 farmers in 60% of India’s regions, operating through a network of about 12,000 agricultural warehouses, all leased from third parties. The startup monetizes farmers for storage, banks for originating loans against stored grains, and buyers for facilitating crop sales through its platform.
Storage remains the largest contributor, accounting for around 50-55% of total revenue, while financing contributes 25-30% and the rest comes from trading, Rao said.
Arya.ag disburses more than ₹110 billion (about $1.2 billion) in loans to farmers every year through its platform. Between ₹25 billion and ₹30 billion (about $278 million – $333 million) of this comes from its balance sheet through its non-banking finance arm, Rao said, while the rest comes from partner banks.
Arya.ag’s loans carry interest rates of about 12.5% to 12.8%, much lower than the 24% to 36% typically charged by procurement agents, Rao said, though higher than bank lending rates of about 11% to 12%. He added that banks generally don’t lend in the small, local markets near rural areas that Arya serves, where loan sizes are a fraction of typical bank tickets and borrowers are often far from formal branches.
The startup approves loans in less than five minutes with disbursements almost entirely done digitally, Rao said.
Technology plays a central role in how Arya.ag manages risk and scale. The startup uses artificial intelligence to assess grain quality for lending decisions, satellite data to monitor crop stress before harvest, and sensor-enabled airtight storage bags that allow farmers to store grain for long periods even in villages without formal warehouses.
Arya.ag plans to use the new capital to further scale its technology developments, including expanding its smart agriculture centers and developing more digital tools closer to the farms. Part of the investment, Rao said, will also go towards strengthening the startup’s blockchain-based system that digitally tracks stored grain, enabling tracking of crops used as collateral or sold through the platform in loan and trade transactions, alongside continued investment in storage and credit infrastructure.
With the latest capital infusion and improving profitability, Arya.ag aims to be ready for an IPO in the next 18 to 20 months, Rao said.
Beyond India, Arya.ag plans to selectively expand through a software-based model, with some of its technology already deployed in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. The startup employs over 1,200 full-time employees.
Avendus informed Arya.ag about the new financing round.
