Even as global crop prices fall, India’s Arya.ag is attracting investors — and staying profitable

Arya.ag, an Indian agritech institution offering retention facilities adjacent farms and offering lending services to hundreds of thousands of farmers, has drawn capitalist involvement and remained profitable adjacent arsenic planetary harvest prices proceed to autumn successful a volatile commodities market.

The capitalist involvement has taken signifier successful the latest all-equity Series D circular from GEF Capital Partners, totaling $81 million, of which much than 70% was superior superior and the remainder secondary stock sales, according to the company.

Globally, agricultural commodity prices are falling. Risks from utmost weather, input costs, commercialized disruptions, and biofuel argumentation shifts proceed to measurement connected cultivation markets, the World Bank has warned. This leaves businesses exposed to terms swings and inventory losses. Nonetheless, Arya.ag says it is navigating the worst of that strain by steering wide of nonstop commodity bets and utilizing a exemplary that it says helps sorb shocks from downward pricing shifts.

Founded successful 2013 by erstwhile ICICI Bank executives Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra, and Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya.ag is built astir a elemental idea: giving farmers much power implicit erstwhile and to whom they merchantability their crops. The Noida-based startup offers retention adjacent to farms portion allowing farmers to get against warehoused atom to conscionable contiguous currency needs and connecting them with a wider excavation of buyers — from agri-corporations to processors and millers — helping them debar the unit to merchantability conscionable aft harvest, erstwhile prices are often weakest.

The institution operates astatine scale, which sets Arya.ag isolated from accepted lenders, banks, and different agribusiness platforms. The startup says it aggregates and stores astir $3 cardinal worthy of atom each twelvemonth — astir 3% of nationalist output — and facilitates astir $1.5 cardinal successful loans annually, portion keeping its complaint of atrocious loans (known arsenic gross non-performing assets, oregon NPAs) beneath 0.5% contempt the caller driblet successful prices.

Arya.ag lends lone a information of the worth of stored atom and tracks prices closely, triggering borderline calls erstwhile required alternatively than taking losses itself, Rao said. Borrowers tin respond by repaying portion of the indebtedness oregon adding much atom arsenic collateral.

“You’re not immune to risks,” Rao told TechCrunch. “But due to the fact that your lending is wholly secured against commodities, it volition ne'er hap that the prices volition autumn by 90%. You already person a borderline of 30%, and with your people to market, you’ve been capable to power your NPAs and defaults.”

In the twelvemonth ended March 2025, Arya.ag generated nett gross of ₹4.5 cardinal (around $50 million), with first-half gross successful the existent fiscal twelvemonth rising astir 30% from a twelvemonth earlier to ₹3 cardinal ($33.3 million). Profit aft taxation stood astatine ₹340 cardinal (about $3.78 million) past year, and has risen a further 39% truthful acold this year, Rao said.

Arya.ag Co-founder and CEO Prasanna RaoImage Credits:Arya.ag

Arya.ag says it present reaches betwixt 850,000 and 900,000 farmers crossed 60% of India’s districts, operating done a web of astir 12,000 cultivation warehouses, each leased from 3rd parties. The startup generates gross from farmers for storage, from banks for originating loans against stored grain, and from buyers for facilitating harvest income done its platform.

Storage remains the largest contributor, accounting for astir 50–55% of full revenue, portion concern contributes 25–30% and the remainder comes from commerce, Rao said.

Arya.ag disburses much than ₹110 cardinal (about $1.2 billion) successful loans to farmers each twelvemonth done its platform. Between ₹25 cardinal and ₹30 cardinal (roughly $278 million–$333 million) of that comes from its ain equilibrium expanse via its non-banking concern arm, Rao said, with the remainder originated for spouse banks.

Arya.ag’s loans transportation involvement rates of astir 12.5% to 12.8%, good beneath the 24% to 36% typically charged by committee agents, Rao said, though higher than slope lending rates of astir 11% to 12%. He added that banks mostly bash not lend successful the small, section markets adjacent to farming areas that Arya serves, wherever indebtedness sizes are a fraction of emblematic slope tickets and borrowers are often located acold from ceremonial branches.

The startup approves loans successful nether 5 minutes with disbursements handled astir wholly digitally, Rao said.

Technology plays a cardinal relation successful however Arya.ag manages hazard and scale. The startup uses AI to measure atom prime for lending decisions, outer information to way harvest accent earlier harvest, and airtight, sensor-enabled retention bags that let farmers to store atom for extended periods adjacent successful villages without ceremonial warehouses.

Arya.ag plans to usage the caller superior to standard its tech deployments further, including expanding astute workplace centers and deploying much integer tools person to farms. Part of the investment, Rao said, volition besides spell toward strengthening the startup’s blockchain-based strategy that digitally tracks stored grain, allowing crops utilized arsenic collateral oregon sold done the level to beryllium monitored crossed lending and commercialized transactions, alongside continued concern successful retention and recognition infrastructure.

With the latest superior infusion and improving profitability, Arya.ag is aiming to beryllium IPO-ready successful the adjacent 18 to 20 months, Rao said.

Beyond India, Arya.ag plans to grow selectively done a software-led model, with immoderate of its exertion already deployed successful parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. The startup has a headcount of implicit 1,200 full-time employees.

Avendus advised Arya.ag for the caller fiscal round.