Arya.agAn Indian agritech company, which provides storage facilities near farms and provides credit services to hundreds of thousands of farmers, has attracted investor interest and remains profitable even as global crop prices continue to slide in volatile commodity markets.
Investor interest has taken shape in GEF Capital Partners’ latest all-equity Series D round, totaling $81 million, of which more than 70% was primary capital raising and the rest a secondary share sale, according to the company.
globally, Prices of agricultural commodities are fallingThe World Bank said agricultural markets continue to be at risk from extreme weather, input costs, trade disruptions and biofuel policy changes, cautionThis causes businesses to face price fluctuations and inventory losses, Still, Arya,AG says it is dealing with the worst of that stress by staying away from direct commodity bets and using a model it says helps absorb the shock of pricing declines,
Founded in 2013 by former ICICI Bank executives Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya.ag is built around a simple idea: to give farmers more control over when and to whom they sell their crops. The Noida-based startup provides storage facilities close to the farms, while allowing farmers to borrow against warehoused grains to meet immediate cash needs and connecting them to a wider set of buyers – from agri-corporations to processors and millers – helping them avoid the pressure of selling immediately after harvest, when prices are often at their weakest.
The company operates at scale, which differentiates Arya.Ag from traditional lenders, banks and other agribusiness platforms. The startup says it collects and stores about $3 billion worth of grain every year – that’s about 3% of national production – and facilitates loans worth about $1.5 billion annually, while keeping the rate of bad loans (known as gross non-performing assets or NPA) below 0.5% despite the recent decline in prices.
Rao said Arya.Ag lends only a portion of the value of stored grain and closely monitors prices, triggering margin calls when needed rather than incurring losses. Borrowers may respond by repaying part of the loan or adding more grain as collateral.
“You are not immune to the risks,” Rao told TechCrunch. “But because your borrowings are fully secured against commodities, it will never happen that prices will fall by 90%. You already have a margin of 30%, and with your mark to market, you are able to control your NPAs and defaults.”
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In the year ended March 2025, Arya.AG earned net revenue of ₹4.5 billion (about $50 million), with first-half revenue in the current fiscal year rising nearly 30% from a year earlier to ₹3 billion (about $33.3 million). Rao said profit after tax stood at ₹340 million (about $3.78 million) last year and had grown by 39% so far this year.
Arya.Ag says it now reaches 850,000 to 900,000 farmers in 60% of India’s districts, operating through a network of about 12,000 agricultural warehouses, all leased from third parties. The startup generates revenue from asking farmers for storage, from banks for taking loans against stored grains, and from buyers for facilitating crop sales through its platform.
Warehousing is the biggest contributor, accounting for around 50-55% of the total revenue, while finance contributes 25-30% and the rest comes from commerce, 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) comes from its own balance sheet through its non-banking finance arm, with the rest originating for partner banks, Rao said.
The interest rates on Arya.Ag’s loans are around 12.5% to 12.8%, Rao said, lower than the 24% to 36% typically charged by commission agents, though it is higher than bank loan rates of around 11% to 12%. He said banks generally do not lend in the small, local markets close to agricultural areas that Arya serves, where loan sizes are a fraction of normal bank tickets and borrowers are often located far from formal branches.
Rao said the startup approves loans within five minutes and the disbursement is done almost entirely digitally.
Technology plays a central role in how Arya.AG manages risk and scale. The startup uses AI to assess grain quality for lending decisions, satellite data to track crop stress before harvest and airtight, sensor-enabled storage bags that allow farmers to store grains for extended periods, even in villages without formal warehouses.
Arya.Ag plans to use the new capital to further expand its technology deployment, including expanding smart farm centers and deploying more digital equipment closer to farms. A part of the investment, Rao said, will also go towards strengthening the startup’s blockchain-based system that digitally tracks stored grains, leading to continued investment in storage and credit infrastructure as well as monitoring of crops used as collateral or sold through the platform during loan and trade transactions.
With the latest capital infusion and improving profitability, Arya.AG aims to be ready for IPO in the next 18 to 20 months, Rao said.
Beyond India, Arya.ag plans to expand selectively through a software-based model, with some of its technology already deployed in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. The startup has more than 1,200 full-time employees.
Avendus advised Arya.AG on its new financing round.
