Connect with:
Wednesday / December 11. 2024
HomePosts Tagged "Accion"

Agrizy aims to transform India into a global food processing hub by helping FPOs and MSME agri-processors access export markets.

Agri-processing platform Agrizy announced today that it has raised USD 9.8 million (Rs 82 crores) in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Accion and Omnivore, with participation from Capria Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, and existing investor Ankur Capital.

India’s $400 billion agri-processing market, though growing 9 per cent annually, faces a bottleneck: only 10 per cent of farm produce gets processed today. This pales in comparison to global leaders like China (40 per cent) and developed nations (70 per cent). India has more than 2 million food processing MSMEs, which operate significantly under capacity and struggle to find B2B customers, especially in export markets.

Agrizy is helping to solve these challenges, providing MSMEs with a fully managed B2B marketplace for agrifood supply chains and processing. The platform connects every stakeholder in the agrifood processing ecosystem to optimally discover and fulfil transactions. The startup works closely with agrifood processing MSMEs, offering them a suite of digital services to generate additional long-term revenues and improve their operating margins, while streamlining their procurement and sales cycles.

Agrizy was co-founded in 2021 by Vicky Dodani and Saket Chirania, who previously worked in senior roles with leading Indian startups including Blackbuck, Bizongo, and Zoomcar. With the new funding, Agrizy aims to expand into new product areas and geographies; launch CDMO and value-added advisory services; and offer financial services to MSME processors and farmer-producer organizations (FPOs). 

Vicky Dodani, Co-founder and CEO at Agrizy, said, “Agrizy aims to transform India into a global food processing hub by helping FPOs and MSME agri-processors access export markets and comply with global quality standards, while offering these underserved stakeholders working capital from formal financial institutions. The current investment will empower Agrizy to actively drive these crucial initiatives in both local and global markets.”

John Fischer, Chief Investment Officer at Accion, said: “Agrizy is seeking to reshape traditional agri-processing by providing a robust marketplace and support to improve production. The company aims to also address the lack of quality financing for small processors and the Farmer Producer Organizations that supply them, helping to increase incomes in rural communities. Through our partnership with Agrizy, we will leverage Accion’s global expertise to help the company grow, connecting many processors and smallholder farmers to responsible financial services and formal markets for the first time.”

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, stated, “We are proud of our partnership with Agrizy and their vision of upgrading the Indian agri-processing sector. The company’s foray into contract manufacturing is critical for streamlining intricate, export-oriented supply chains. By prioritizing innovation and sustainability, Agrizy is positioning India’s food processing industry to meet evolving global market needs.

Agrizy aims to transform India into a