Bertelsmann India Investments leads a USD 27 million round in agri-tech start-up AgroStar. All existing investors Accel, Chirate Ventures and Aavishkaar Bharat Fund also participated in this round. Over the years, AgroStar has built the largest digital solutions and commerce platform for the Indian farmer.
India has over 135 million farmers and majority of them face challenges of poor income on account of low productivity, high cost of production, lack of actionable agronomy information and low market price of their produce. AgroStar uses farm and farmer specific data, technology and it’s agronomy knowledge to provide real time solutions available at the fingertips of the farmer. Solutions developed by AgroStar are reducing farmer’s cost of production and improving their yields resulting in greater income and profitability for the farmer.
With this capital infusion, AgroStar plans to expand its digital footprint across the country. As rural smartphone penetration grows rapidly and data becomes more affordable, farmers and farms will get digitized at a fast pace. To capitalize on this trend, the company intends to further invest in its technology platform and its data science capability. It also plans to strengthen its leadership team by adding seasoned agri processionals from the industry and invests in building innovative solutions that can address deep-rootedchallenges faced by the farmer.
Commenting on the investment, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director of Bertelsmann India Investments said,“We are very excited to partner AgroStar which is the leading Agri-Tech platform in the country. Shardul and Sitanshu bring deep domain knowledge along with exceptional execution capabilities. We feel privileged to join a journey that has the potential to have a deep positive impact at grassroot levels while building a large and valuable business”.
Shardul Sheth, CEO and Co-Founder, AgroStar said, “Our agri input focused commerce platform and tech enabled agronomy solutions are addressing key challenges faced by the Indian farmer and making farming more profitable and sustainable for them. As we scale our operations, we are fortunate to have Bertelsmann India Investments lead our series C investment round along with participation from all our existing investors backing us in our mission of #HelpingFarmersWin!
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