IFC and technology-led agri platform Arya.ag partner to boost farmer incomes and strengthen India’s agri value chains

Delhi, March 9, 2025 – IFC announced today a co-investment to strengthen India’s agri value chains by reducing post-harvest losses, expanding access to formal finance for smallholder farmers, and scaling sustainable storage and logistics across the country.

The co-investment supports Arya.ag (Arya), an integrated, technology-led agri-platform serving over 800,000 farmers and 3,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) across 21 states. Aligned with the World Bank Group’s (WBG) AgriConnect initiative, the investment combines private capital with market creation approaches to expand resilient agri infrastructure, provide financing options that enhance farmer incomes, and deliver measurable sustainability outcomes. The partnership will help offer pre- and post-harvest solutions to 2.5 million small holder farmers and 4,000 FPOs across India by 2030.

Why it matters

Agriculture and smallholder farmers remain central to India’s economy and livelihoods. Arya’s integrated model combines near-farm-gate storage with market linkages and financing, reducing wastage and increasing income-earning opportunities.

However, scaling solutions that serve small farmers and first-time borrowers require more than capital. It requires platforms that can connect storage, finance, and buyers and expand into underserved regions. This investment supports that model, enabling Arya to grow and continue serving farmers who are often excluded from formal markets and unlocking opportunities for local job creation by furthering collaboration with women-led entrepreneurs, FPOs, service providers across warehousing and market-led services and operations including, logistics, grading, and quality monitoring.

IFC is already working alongside Arya to create storage and market linkages in Uttar Pradesh under the WBG-supported Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Growth and Rural Enterprise Ecosystem Strengthening (UP AGREES) partnership, and now in Andhra Pradesh, including partnerships with state warehousing corporations to lease idle capacity.

The details

IFC’s investment: US$12.8 million (equity co-investment)

Lead investor: GEF South Asia Growth Fund III

Structure: Structured Equity Participation (SEP)

Capital mobilized: US$48.0 million in fresh primary growth capital (representing 54.9% of the transaction value)

By the numbers

• Agtech startup penetration is estimated at roughly 1–1.5 percent of the total addressable market. India’s agtech market is projected to grow from about USD 4 billion in 2022 to USD 24–28 billion by 2030.
• Inadequate storage and outdated or poor-quality infrastructure are among the leading causes of post-harvest losses of foodgrains in India. About two percent of the total produce of 370 million tonnes, valued at an estimated INR 210 billion, is lost each year due to poor or inadequate storage.
• Selling directly to buyers via agtech startups enables farmers to achieve significantly higher price realization—estimated at 25 to 40 precent more—compared to traditional channels by eliminating multiple layers of middlemen.

What they’re saying

“Arya.ag was built to address the trust deficit limiting farmer participation in formal markets. By combining physical infrastructure with digital visibility and financing, we enable even the smallest stakeholders to engage in value chains on equitable terms while reducing post-harvest losses at scale. This partnership deepens that effort—expanding access to technology, finance, and buyers to strengthen resilience, drive income improvement, support local entrepreneurship and livelihoods, and build stronger regional agri ecosystems.”

--Prasanna Rao, CoFounder and CEO of Arya.

“Arya.ag has built a category-defining platform at the intersection of agri warehousing, digital market infrastructure, and secured agri financing. At a time when agriculture must adapt to increasing climate variability, resilient and efficient value chains are critical. By improving storage infrastructure, reducing wastage, and facilitating access to formal finance, Arya.ag not only enhances farmer incomes but also contributes to lower resource intensity and reduced carbon footprint across the supply chain while significantly reducing post-harvest losses. We are proud to support Arya.ag as it continues to help add resilience to Indian agriculture.”

--Alipt Sharma, Partner at GEF Capital Partners

“Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy and the primary source of livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people. This partnership with Arya demonstrates how IFC can combine private capital with WBG–led market creation to strengthen agri value chains that are more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable. Through AgriConnect and our Country Partnership Framework, we are introducing innovative models, expanding access to finance, and building market linkages to create jobs and boost rural prosperity, particularly in underserved areas. At the heart of this effort are smallholder farmers, including women, who remain central to driving growth and building stronger economies.” --Imad N Fakhoury, IFC Regional Division Director for South Asia

Who’s in

Other investors participating in the co-investment include:

• British International Investment
• Proparco (AFD Group)
• Swedfund

The backdrop

• Post-harvest losses: Inadequate storage and logistics continue to drive high food losses, price volatility, and income uncertainty for smallholder farmers, especially in Low-Income States.
• Access to finance: Limited formal credit and collateral constraints restrict farmers’ ability to invest, smooth cash flows, and respond to climate shocks, excluding many from the formal financial system.
• Market linkage: Introducing new buyers into the market.
• Extreme weather patterns: Rising climate variability is increasing water stress, input inefficiencies, and emissions across agri value chains, underscoring the need for climate-smart storage, finance, and market infrastructure.

About the fund manager

GEF is a private equity fund manager providing growth capital to mid-market companies across climate theses of climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation in India. IFC has backed GEF in its three previous Funds and has co-invested alongside the Funds.

The bottom line

By aligning private investment with the World Bank Group’s AgriConnect initiative, IFC is helping de-risk agri markets, crowd in capital, and accelerate the build-out of storage, finance, and market linkages that smallholder farmers rely on every day. The goal: shift agri systems in India’s Low-Income States from fragmented, high-loss models toward scalable, private-sector-led solutions that raise incomes, cut food loss, and strengthen resilience.

AgriConnect’s focus on transforming agriculture is intentional. Across the World Bank Group, we are focusing on five sectors with the greatest potential to generate jobs at scale. Along with agribusiness, these are infrastructure and energy, primary healthcare, tourism and value-added manufacturing. The World Bank Group is putting job creation at the center of all we do. Jobs are a source of livelihoods, and they create dignity and hope. And we are working to create quality jobs in three key ways: by investing in the foundational infrastructure that is critical to job creation, such as reliable roads and electricity to nutrition and healthcare so people can work; by creating a business-friendly environment with policy and regulatory reforms; and by mobilizing private capital at scale to help businesses grow, innovate and hire.

About Arya.ag

Arya.ag is India's largest and only profitable grain commerce platform. It enables freedom of choice for farmers and their organizations to decide 'when' and 'to whom' they would want to sell their produce post-harvest by offering access to farmgate-level storage, seamless finance and transparent commerce. It eliminates the trust deficit in grain commerce through its exponentially growing layer of visibility and control, currently stretching across 60% of Indian districts and having 12,000 agri-warehouses in its network. Arya.ag aggregates and stores USD 3 billion of grain annually while enabling disbursement of over USD 1.5 billion of loans to small-holder farmers, their organizations and other stakeholders. Arya.ag works towards creating equitable value chains in agriculture, assuring inclusive growth and greater transparency.