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

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

Arya.ag, an Indian agritech company providing storage amenities close to farms and providing lending providers to a whole lot of hundreds of farmers, has drawn investor curiosity and remained profitable even as global crop prices continue to fall in a unstable commodities market.

The investor curiosity has taken form in the latest all-equity Series D round from GEF Capital Partners, totaling $81 million, of which more than 70% was main capital and the relaxation secondary share sales, according to the company.

Globally, agricultural commodity prices are falling. Risks from excessive climate, enter prices, commerce disruptions, and biofuel coverage shifts continue to weigh on agricultural markets, the World Bank has warned. This leaves companies uncovered to cost swings and stock losses. Nonetheless, Arya.ag says it is navigating the worst of that pressure by steering clear of direct commodity bets and utilizing a mannequin that it says helps take up shocks from downward pricing shifts.

Founded in 2013 by former ICICI Bank executives Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra, and Chattanathan Devarajan, Arya.ag is constructed round a simple concept: giving farmers more management over when and to whom they promote their crops. The Noida-based startup affords storage near farms while permitting farmers to borrow against warehoused grain to fulfill speedy money wants and connecting them with a wider pool of consumers — from agri-corporations to processors and millers — serving to them keep away from the strain to promote just after harvest, when prices are often weakest.

The company operates at scale, which units Arya.ag other than conventional lenders, banks, and other agribusiness platforms. The startup says it aggregates and shops about $3 billion value of grain each yr — roughly 3% of national output — and facilitates round $1.5 billion in loans yearly, while retaining its charge of unhealthy loans (recognized as gross non-performing belongings, or NPAs) below 0.5% despite the current drop in prices.

Arya.ag lends only a portion of the worth of saved grain and tracks prices intently, triggering margin calls when required reasonably than taking losses itself, Rao said. Borrowers can reply by repaying a part of the mortgage or including more grain as collateral.

“You’re not immune to risks,” Rao told TechCrunch. “But because your lending is completely secured against commodities, it will never happen that the prices will fall by 90%. You already have a margin of 30%, and with your mark to market, you’ve been able to control your NPAs and defaults.”

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In the yr ended March 2025, Arya.ag generated internet income of ₹4.5 billion (round $50 million), with first-half income in the current monetary yr rising about 30% from a yr earlier to ₹3 billion ($33.3 million). Profit after tax stood at ₹340 million (about $3.78 million) last yr, and has risen an extra 39% thus far this yr, Rao said.

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

Arya.ag says it now reaches between 850,000 and 900,000 farmers across 60% of India’s districts, working by way of a network of about 12,000 agricultural warehouses, all leased from third events. The startup generates income from farmers for storage, from banks for originating loans against saved grain, and from consumers for facilitating crop sales by way of its platform.

Storage stays the largest contributor, accounting for about 50–55% of whole income, while finance contributes 25–30% and the relaxation comes from commerce, Rao said.

Arya.ag disburses more than ₹110 billion (about $1.2 billion) in loans to farmers each yr by way of its platform. Between ₹25 billion and ₹30 billion (roughly $278 million–$333 million) of that comes from its personal steadiness sheet through its non-banking finance arm, Rao said, with the relaxation originated for companion banks.

Arya.ag’s loans carry rates of interest of about 12.5% to 12.8%, effectively below the 24% to 36% usually charged by fee brokers, Rao said, though greater than financial institution lending charges of round 11% to 12%. He added that banks typically don’t lend in the small, local markets near farming areas that Arya serves, the place mortgage sizes are a fraction of typical financial institution tickets and debtors are often positioned removed from formal branches.

The startup approves loans in under 5 minutes with disbursements dealt with nearly fully digitally, Rao said.

Technology performs a central position in how Arya.ag manages threat and scale. The startup makes use of AI to evaluate grain high quality for lending selections, satellite tv for pc data to trace crop stress before harvest, and hermetic, sensor-enabled storage luggage that permit farmers to retailer grain for prolonged intervals even in villages without formal warehouses.

Arya.ag plans to make use of the contemporary capital to scale its tech deployments additional, including increasing good farm facilities and deploying more digital tools nearer to farms. Part of the funding, Rao said, will also go towards strengthening the startup’s blockchain-based system that digitally tracks saved grain, permitting crops used as collateral or bought by way of the platform to be monitored across lending and commerce transactions, alongside continued funding in storage and credit score infrastructure.

With the latest capital infusion and bettering profitability, Arya.ag is aiming to be IPO-ready in the next 18 to twenty months, Rao said.

Beyond India, Arya.ag plans to increase selectively by way of a software-led mannequin, with some of its technology already deployed in elements of Southeast Asia and Africa. The startup has a headcount of over 1,200 full-time staff.

Avendus suggested Arya.ag for the new monetary round.

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