Agri-fintech startup Ayekart raises $5.5M
The company said the fund will be utilised to serve the burgeoning business needs of traditional businesses in the Food and Agri sector; by providing financial and technological assistance to elevate their businesses and eventually enhance growth.
, an integrated tech platform in the food and agri value chain, has raised $5.5 million through an equity and debt fund round from Caspian Debt, a corporate lending financial services company, and Siply a tech-enabled platform providing micro financial services to underserved Indians and HNIs.
According to the company statement, the fund will be utilised to serve the burgeoning business needs of traditional businesses in the Food and Agri sector by providing financial and technological assistance to elevate their businesses and enhance growth.
Founded in December 2020, Ayekart strengthens the traditional businesses and the agri-value chain through finance, tech, and supply chain management. The company began its commercial rollout in September 2021 and did a Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of Rs 139.5 crore in FY 21-22, with PAT positive. In the same month, Ayekart raised an angel round of approx. Rs 5.5 crore.
On securing the debt fund, Debarshi Dutta, CEO & Co-founder, said, “Ayekart constantly thrives to enable the best of its services through finance, technology, and services for the betterment of FPOs, farmer communities, and traditional businesses. We will use the fund raised to strengthen our ecosystem to meet the necessities of small and traditional vendors, dealers/distributors, farmer communities, millers, processors, distributors and retailers.
This will further boost disbursements, given the various opportunities that we have at present. We are very humble and thankful to our investors for their trust and are grateful to them for their unstinting backing during our growth phase.”
Commenting on the investment, Avishek Gupta, Managing Director & CEO - Caspian Debt, said,
“We are delighted to support Ayekart in its growth journey of empowering small businesses in the agriculture value chain. Ayekart plays a significant role in providing new market avenues as well as payment assurance to the suppliers in the agri ecosystem. Their platform provides strength to the local ecosystem players (processors, distributors, and retailers) helping them to grow the business without affecting their margins thus creating a positive impact. We look forward to continuing our participation along their journey.”
The partnership is an abiding step in helping Ayekart accomplish its aim of addressing the sector's needs. Ayekart has already done a GTV of INR 250 crores in the last 11 months.
Edited by Megha Reddy