India’s Leading Grain Commerce Platform Arya.ag Raises $29 Million in Pre-Series D Funding

Blue Earth Capital leads the round, with participation from existing investors Asia Impact and Quona Capital

Delhi, India, July 10, 2024 — Arya.ag, India’s largest integrated grain commerce platform, today announced that it has raised $29 million (INR 242 crore) in a Pre-Series D funding round. The round was led by Switzerland-based investment firm Blue Earth Capital, a new investor in Arya, in partnership with Quona Capital. The round also included participation from existing investors Asia Impact and Quona Capital.

Arya.ag offers a comprehensive agri-commerce platform that seamlessly connects sellers and buyers of agriproducts to facilitate and streamline commerce, driving efficiencies and reducing waste, to the benefit of the entire market. The platform integrates warehouse discovery, farmgate-level storage, finance and market linkages, providing a comprehensive solution across the entire value chain while addressing market inefficiencies.

Arya.ag plans to utilise the Pre-Series D funds to gain market share and improve its profitability. ​​The Group plans key strategic initiatives, including the deployment of satellite technology for improved farm productivity, reduced waste, and greater transparency and visibility across the value chain. The company will also use the funding to initiate partnerships to improve Package of Practices (PoP) on-farm and measures to reduce food loss across the supply chain, which will enhance climate resilience for its farmer base, improving the incomes of over 1,200 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) while also delivering improved climate outcomes.

Arya.ag is the only Indian agritech platform at scale to report profits (INR 17 crore) over revenue of INR 360 crore in FY24. The company saw a profit growth of over 36% compared to FY23.

Rohan Ghose, Director of Private Equity Partnerships at Blue Earth Capital, commented: “We are incredibly proud to invest in Arya.ag, a company that is helping create a more dynamic and resilient agricultural market in India. This investment aligns perfectly with Blue Earth Capital’s mission of addressing some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges and, by backing this innovative company and its exceptional management team, we are not only fostering agricultural advancements but also contributing to the economic growth and sustainability of rural communities and farmers across India.”

Christian Banno, Chief Investment Officer of Asia Impact remarked, “At Asia Impact, we believe that leveraging private capital for the public good can help build a more equitable and sustainable future for all. Arya.ag’s work with farmers, FPOs and ‘climate champions’ to build trust, optimise resource allocation, and minimise adverse environmental impacts has been extremely impactful, especially in the face of climate-induced stress in agriculture. We hope that together we can strengthen these networks and create value for all stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem.”

Prasanna Rao, Arya.ag’s CEO and Co-founder, stated, “The Pre-Series D funding from Blue Earth Capital, along with the continued support from Asia Impact SA and Quona Capital, validates our philosophy of creating a commercially attractive business model delivering value to all stakeholders in the agri-ecosystem, especially the smallest of stakeholders at the fringes of inclusion. This investment will help accelerate our growth trajectory. With these funds, we plan to expand our reach, serve more farmers and buyers, and introduce innovative offerings to strengthen our position as India’s most trusted agri-commerce platform.”

The company aims to impact over 10 million farmers by empowering them to sell their produce at the right time and to the right buyer in the next 3-4 years. It will facilitate over $3 billion in agri-loans, and create commerce linkages of over $4 billion while increasing its storage footprint by over 4X by 2028.

Setuka Partners served as the strategic advisor for this equity round.

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About Arya.ag
Arya.ag is India’s largest and only profitable grain commerce platform. It enables freedom of choice for farmers and their organizations to decide ‘when’ and ‘to whom’ they would want to sell their produce post-harvest by offering access to farmgate-level storage, seamless finance and transparent commerce. It eliminates the trust deficit in grain commerce through its exponentially growing layer of visibility and control, currently stretching across 60% of Indian districts, covering over 11,000 agri-warehouses. Arya.ag aggregates and stores USD 3 billion of grain annually while enabling disbursement of over USD 1.5 billion of loans to small-holder farmers, their organizations and other stakeholders. Arya.ag works towards creating equitable value chains in agriculture, assuring inclusive growth and greater transparency.

About Blue Earth Capital
Blue Earth Capital is a global, independent, specialist impact investor, headquartered in Switzerland, with operations in New York, London, and Konstanz. Blue Earth Capital seeks to address the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges by delivering measurable impact alongside aiming for attractive and market-rate financial returns. The company operates dedicated private equity, private credit, and fund solutions as well as separately managed accounts. Blue Earth Capital is owned by the Blue Earth Foundation, a Stiftung (charity/trust) registered in Switzerland that focuses on deep impact to support initiatives and business ventures to help deliver a more equitable and sustainable future.

About Asia Impact Invest
Asia Impact SA is a Luxembourg-based investment company promoting impact investments in India and SEA, in different sectors and at different development stages, from start-up to growing/maturing. Among the leading initiatives where Asia Impact is actively involved we are particularly proud to mention all CreditAccess’ microfinance companies in India and Southeast Asia. Further, Asia Impact structures investment initiatives in single business/companies (club deals) and is currently promoting a new Luxembourg SICAV fund, investing in public listed equity securities of Indian companies.

About Quona Capital
Quona Capital is a leading venture firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets. Quona’s global partners are experienced investors and operators in both emerging and developed markets, and back entrepreneurs whose companies have the potential to generate outstanding financial returns while promoting breakthrough innovation in financial inclusion for both consumers and SMEs. Quona has supported over 70 financial technology companies expanding access for underserved consumers and small businesses in India and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East (MENA).  More at quona.com.

Press Contacts:

Ann Thomas for Arya.ag (India)
ann.thomas@arya.ag
+91 9158222248

Simon Markebeck,Kekst CNC for Blue Earth Capital
blueearthcapital@kekstcnc.com
+46761279072

Shannon Austin for Quona Capital (US)
shannon@quona.com
+1 (703) 338-8813

Massanzago/Milan, 12 September 2024 – Tapì, a global leader in closures for premium, super-premium, and luxury spirits, and Ganau, a renowned Italian producer of high-end wine corks, are proud to announce that Ganau has joined the Tapì Group. Together, they are poised to make a significant impact in the industry by offering a comprehensive range of high-end sustainable closures.

The integration of Ganau into the Tapì Group creates a synergy that will enable both companies to offer a comprehensive range of closure solutions and better serve the increasing demand for innovation, quality, and superior service across the wine and spirits sectors.

Tapì will be incorporating Ganau’s high-end natural and micro-agglomerated cork stoppers into their closure offerings, while Ganau will gain access to Tapì’s extensive international network, facilitating global expansion and broadening their customer reach.

Ganau’s decades-long experience in cork closure production has established the company as a key reference in the industry. This legacy has guided the rebranding strategy, leading to the adoption of a new tagline –  ‘Cork Another Way’ – which succinctly defines Ganau’s core values and mission within the cork closure sector. Ganau aims to be recognized for its excellence, innovation, and commitment to sustainability while placing great value on the Italian supply chain.

Roberto Casini, CEO of the Tapì Group, commented on the acquisition: “This strategic partnership consolidates Tapì’s position as a leading innovator in closure solutions for the luxury spirit segment. While we’re already at the forefront of synthetic closures, this merger propels us into a leadership role in natural and micro-agglomerated cork stopper manufacturing, particularly in the high-end segment.

“Ganau’s reputation in exceptional quality makes them an ideal partner. Together, we’re prepared to elevate our service to premium spirits clients around the world.”

The Ganau Family added: “We are delighted to join the Tapì Group as a natural evolution of our long-standing collaboration. This union will enable us to offer our clients even more innovative and high-quality wine cork closures. Furthermore, it marks a significant milestone in our global expansion strategy, reinforcing our position in international markets.”

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The Tapì Group

Tapì Group, acquired by the private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners in February 2023, is a global leader in the design, production, and distribution of innovative closure solutions. While primarily focused on the premium beverage sector, Tapì’s expertise extends beyond spirits to include wine, beer, condiments, and cosmetics. With a workforce of over 900 professionals worldwide, Tapì serves more than 5,000 clients across 80 countries. The company’s global footprint encompasses production facilities, commercial offices, research and development laboratories, and an extensive distribution network, solidifying its position as an industry innovator on an international scale.

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Ganau

Founded in Sardinia in 1941, Ganau relies on nine decades of experience and the integration of modern technologies to produce high-quality wine closures. With headquarters in Tempio Pausania (Italy) and divisions in Epernay (France) and Sonoma (United States), Ganau is the preferred choice for discerning winemakers around the world.

The Ganau family will retain partial ownership of the Ganau group. Adema, Francesco, Mauro, and Mariella Ganau will continue to manage Ganau S.p.A. and its subsidiaries, ensuring continuity in leadership and maintaining the company’s longstanding commitment to quality and innovation.

Ghent, BELGIUM – 2 September 2024, 07:00 CEST – Biotalys (Euronext: BTLS) an Agricultural Technology (AgTech) company developing protein-based biocontrols for sustainable crop protection, today announced it received approval by the Dutch regulator CTGB (College voor de Toelating van Gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en Biociden) for large-scale demonstration trials in greenhouses of its first biofungicide candidate, EVOCA™*. Importantly, the harvested fruits and vegetables can be sold for human consumption.

Jeannette Vriend, Plant protection specialist at Dutch growers association Glastuinbouw Nederland, said: “We are very pleased that this innovative technology can now be tested at large scale by growers. Given the many challenges to adequately control fungal diseases in tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries, due to a sharply shrinking crop protection product package, we really need the acceleration of new, green solutions. These trials offer an ideal opportunity to properly implement such solutions in these high-value integrated crops.”

The CTGB granted Biotalys the approval to test EVOCA against powdery mildew in 40 hectares of tomatoes, 20 hectares of cucumbers and 10 hectares of strawberries. Produce from these greenhouse trials is allowed to be sold for human consumption, an exemption to standard practices requiring crop destruction when a crop protection product is used that has not yet received regulatory approval.**

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NPM-participation Agro Care, one of the largest and most modern tomato growers in the Netherlands, announces a merger with industry peer CombiVliet. Together, they will operate under the name Agro Care and will manage nearly 500 hectares of greenhouses, with ambitions to grow to 1000 hectares, both in the Netherlands and internationally.

The merger is driven by the desire to operate more efficiently and sustainably. By scaling up, the companies hope to better meet market demands for sustainability and local production. Kees van Veen, co-founder of Agro Care, will become the CEO of the new entity, while Roy van Vliet, who succeeded his father at CombiVliet, will be the managing director for the Netherlands. Philip van Antwerpen will remain the managing director for Tunisia.

The companies plan to merge their staff services and open a joint headquarters. This aims not only to improve efficiency but also to become more attractive to talented employees. Additionally, they will continue to use joint purchasing and project management agencies and sales channels​.