Venture Capital Funding in Agriculture Start-Ups Growing in India

Toronto, Canada, September 7, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​Philippe Courtois - Partner & Senior Analyst at Libor Capital said that “we expect to see our company investing in the agricultural sector as its pretty much an untapped market and ripe for expansion, this sector has been overlooked for some time as there is a strong bias toward Silicon Valley and the latest technology start up, however, we see the market in agri start-ups as huge and expect it to increase in the coming years”.

Lack of institutional funding through banks and Non- Banking Financial Company (NBFC) has prompted entrepreneurs to go for venture capital even at high cost. This is why some savvy VC firms see it as a great place to invest, there is also the fact that there will not be 50 VC firms all fighting to partner the latest hi-tech company rolling off the Silicon Valley conveyor belt.

"There has been increase in VC funds flowing in start-up companies operating in the field of agriculture. We have made investment in at least 11 firms including weather forecasting company Skymet," Mumbai-based Omnivore Parters, Founding Partner Jinesh Shah told on the sidelines of a CII event.

The investments have been made in start-up companies that are working in the field of farm mechanization, precision farming, sustainable farming, and innovative foods, he said.

"We are currently investing between Rs 5,00,000 and Rs 30,000,000 in agri-start-up companies, which we plan to scale up to Rs 60,00,000 in the coming years," Shah said.