AgroStar, an agri-inputs platform, has acquired Mumbai-based INI Farms Pvt Ltd, an exporter of fruits and vegetables from India. AgroStar has acquired 100 per cent of INI Farms through a combination of cash and stock.
A statement issued by both firms on Thursday said AgroStar will provide market linkage solutions for domestic and export markets to its large network of farmers following the acquisition.
In addition, INI Farms’ customer base of global retailers will get access to a wider basket of fruit and vegetable products. AgroStar will also provide access to great quality inputs, tech-based farm interventions, and solutions designed to increase yields to INI Farms’ network of farmers across multiple states, it said.
Pankaj Khandelwal and Purnima Khandelwal, who founded INI Farms in 2009, along with the entire INI Farms team, will continue to operate and scale the “Kimaye” brand of the company across more countries and many more crops. It said the “Kimaye” brand of products from INI Farms is available in some of the largest retail chains spread across 35 countries in the world.
Providing scaled presence
The acquisition provides a scaled presence to AgroStar in the $300 billion+ agri output market, it said.
Shardul Sheth, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AgroStar, said: “AgroStar is India’s largest digital network of farmers, helping them grow better by providing great content, real-time advisory and superior quality agri inputs.”
“As we look to provide additional value to our network of farmers, we are delighted to partner with Pankaj and Purnima. Their efforts over the years have put the Indian farmer on the world map by making great quality Indian fruits available around the world. ‘Kimaye’ is now a well known global consumer brand out of India, synonymous with great quality and safety! This acquisition will enable us to rapidly scale our business into the domestic and international food supply chains,” he said.
Stating that the agriculture story in India is poised for a multi-fold growth, Pankaj Khandelwal, Chairman and Managing Director of INI Farms, said: “We believe that large platforms providing end-to-end services to the farmers from advisory and inputs to output offtake are going to drive this transformation. AgroStar partnership provides us with a great opportunity to grow multi-fold with expansion into the entire agriculture output business and leveraging our strong supply chain capabilities.”
AgroStar’s mission of ensuring better farmer incomes through improved productivity and quality are the cornerstones of INI Farms’ philosophy as well. With AgroStar serving farmers across a diverse range of crops, INI Farms will have access to a much wider and diverse crop base to offer to our global customers, he said.
Vineet Rai, Founder and Chairman of Aavishkaar Group, said Aavishkaar has been the first institutional investor in both the organisations. “I am glad that some of the best entrepreneurs in agri-tech are coming together to solve complex problems at scale. Both organizations are leaders in transforming rural economies and their joining hands augur well for Indian farmers getting comprehensive solutions under one platform,” Rai said.
Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner of Accel India, said that this is a great opportunity for two companies with a similar DNA to expand their business and cater to the growing demands of the farming communities and consumers.
“We are very optimistic that working together as one entity will accelerate their mission to create an impact in the Indian agri-tech sector,” he said.
Ronnie Screwvala, Founder of Unilazer Ventures, said: “Next 10 years provides us with a great opportunity to build large scale agri-tech enterprises with purpose: for farmers, for consumers, and for the environment. The AgroStar-INI Farms combine will create massive opportunities to double farmers income, provide consumers with high quality safe food, and build efficient supply chains.”
The Raine Group acted as financial advisor to AgroStar.