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India's agritech start-ups got $248 mn funds in H1 2019

New Delhi, Aug 12

Agritech start-ups in India received more than $248 million funding in the first half of 2019, a growth of 300 per cent as compared to the same period in the previous year, according to a study by IT industry body Nasscom.

Growing at the rate of 25 per cent year-on-year, the country currently hosts more than 450 start-ups in the agritech sector, said the report titled, "Agritech in India - Emerging Trends in 2019".

Indian companies are increasingly looking at global markets to expand with a focus on regions like South East Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. 

In the last five years, more than five global agritech companies have ventured into India, as compared to more than 25 Indian agritech companies with a global presence, the findings showed.

New emerging areas like market linkage, digital agriculture, better access to inputs, function as a service (FaaS) and financing are gaining traction. 

The research showed that every ninth agritech start-up in the world is originating from India.

"Adoption of technology in agriculture has always needed a structured institutional focus and technology firms are trying to break into the agricultural landscape using newer business models," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.

"The findings of the report are a testimony to the potential of the agritech industry and the opportunities that India presents in the agriculture and farming landscape," she added. 

With more and more local farmers accepting the innovative start-up solutions, there has been a considerable shift witnessed from B2C (business to consumer) to B2B (business to business) start-ups, said the report. 

Corporates and investors are playing a vital role in supporting this with over $200 million investment in B2B start-ups in the past 18 months, making it a key revenue generating segment in the overall agritech sector. 

This has enabled better market access, faster technology adoption and domain specific product development support to the industry, Nasscom said.

It is estimated that by 2020, the agritech sector would be at the centre of innovation and will lead India's journey towards overall transformation.