Indian agri-food start-ups saw a year-on-year jump in total funding of almost 100 per cent, securing a total of $2.1 billion.
Mumbai based Omnivore, an agritech venture capital firm has recently announced the publication of the ‘India Agrifood Startup Investment Report FY2020-21’ in partnership with Agfunder, a new kind of venture capital firm.
According to the report Indian agri-food start-ups saw a year-on-year jump in total funding of almost 100 per cent, securing a total of $2.1 billion. Seed investments into the sector grew 3x as entrepreneurs and investors alike tried to make the most of the opportunity to solve food system failings that have been pushed under the spotlight by the pandemic.
As per the report, AgFunder defined Restaurant Marketplaces and eGrocery categories which broadly cover meal delivery apps and online grocery shopping, respectively — witnessed about 2x growth in funding in FY21, as millions of Indian consumers shifted to purchasing prepared food, groceries, and other essentials online.
According to the ‘India Agrifood Startup Investment Report’, Food delivery giant Zomato alone raised $1.2 billion across several rounds ahead of its $12.1 billion IPO in July, accounting for more than half of total investment into agrifood startups in FY21 and two-thirds of total funding to downstream categories.
Furthermore, the report mentioned, the number of upstream agrifoodtech deals surpassed downstream deals in India for the first time. Agribusiness Marketplaces, which provide farmers with online access to a variety of offline products and services, rose to prominence; leading the pack was DeHaat, which raised two consecutive rounds – a $12 million Series A and a $30 million Series B – from investors including AgFunder, Omnivore, Prosus, Sequoia Capital, and FMO.
