Agri-fintech startup Ayekart raises $5.5 million
Aykartan integrated technology platform in the food and agriculture value chain, has raised $5.5 million through an equity and debt fund round from Caspian debt, a company that lends financial services, and Simply a technology-enabled platform that offers micro-financial services to underserved Indians and HNIs.
According to the company’s statement, the fund will be used to serve the growing business needs of traditional businesses in the food and agriculture sector by providing financial and technological assistance to elevate their businesses and increase growth.
Founded in December 2020, Ayekart strengthens the traditional businesses and value chain of agriculture through finance, technology 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. NOK 5.5 million.
On securing the debt fund, Debarshi Dutta, CEO and co-founder said, “Ayekart is constantly thriving to enable the best of its services through finance, technology and services for the betterment of FPOs, farming communities and traditional enterprises. We will use the fund as is collected to strengthen our ecosystem to meet the needs of small and traditional suppliers, retailers/distributors, farming communities, millers, processors, distributors and retailers.
This will further increase payouts, given the various opportunities we have today. We are very humbled and grateful to our investors for their trust and are grateful to them for their unwavering support during our growth phase.”
A comment on the investment, Avishek Gupta, CEO and Managing Director – Caspian Debt, said:
“We are happy to support Ayekart in its growth journey to empower small businesses in the agriculture value chain. Ayekart plays a significant role in providing new market opportunities as well as payment assurance to the suppliers in the agri-ecosystem. Their platform empowers the local ecosystem actors (processors, distributors and resellers) and help them grow their business without impacting their margins, thereby creating a positive impact. We look forward to continuing our participation in their journey.”
The partnership is a sustained step to help Ayekart achieve its goal of meeting the needs of the sector. Ayekart has already done a GTV of INR 250 crores in the last 11 months.
