[Funding alert] NBFC Samunnati raises Rs 387 cr in Series D from US-based Nuveen and existing investors

Chennai-based Samunnati, a specialised agricultural value chain enabler providing financial and non-financial solutions to farmers and entities engaged in agriculture, has closed its series D funding of around Rs 387 crore (~$55M) led by Nuveen, the investment management arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA).

Existing investors Elevar Equity, responsAbility, and Accel Partners also participated in this funding round.

The company will utilise the latest funds for scaling up the current book size and to expand into new geographies and agriculture value chain.

Commenting on the investment, Anil Kumar SG, Samunnati’s Promoter and CEO, said,

“This investment will help to continue with our differentiated offerings and enable agricultural value chains reach a higher equilibrium, thereby allowing markets to work for smallholder farmers.” 

Also Read: Chennai-based early stage agri-NBFC Samunnati raises debt capital from Symbiotics

With this funding round, the total equity funding raised by the company now stands at Rs 587 crore.

Samunnati, a non-banking financial company (NBFC), was founded in 2014 by Anil Kumar SG to provide financial intermediation, market linkages, and advisory services to agriculture value chains. Unlike traditional lenders who tend to focus on crop loans or agricultural input loans, Samunnati focuses on smallholder farmer needs and designs appropriate financial products that are not collateralised. With a team of 315 people, Samunnati is present across 14 states and impacts two million farmers indirectly.

It has disbursed over Rs 1,500 crore since inception and had assets under management of over Rs 460 crore as on March 2019.

Commenting on the opportunity, Rekha Unnithan, CFA, Impact Investing Portfolio Manager at Nuveen, said,

“Access to financing for agricultural value chains fits with our impact investment thesis of inclusive growth, and we are excited to be partnering with a high-quality management team lead by Anil Kumar. This investment aligns with Nuveen’s impact investment objective to grow purpose-driven financial services institutions that leverage innovative and scalable solutions.”

Kotak Investment Banking acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Samunnati for this transaction.

Also Read: Social enterprise Sistema.bio raises $12M, to help 2 lakh farmers in India and globally