Agritech Startup Unnati Raises USD 1.7 Mn In Pre-Series A Round from NABVENTURES The company will utilize the fund to expand its tech platform and set up more partner stores

Agritech startup Unnati on Monday announced that it has raised USD 1.7 million in Pre-Series A round from NABVENTURES fund, an agriculture, food and rural businesses focused fund.

Founded in 2017 by Ashok Prasad and Sinha, Unnati's app gives access to agri finance, knowledge support, choice of inputs, tracking farm lifecycle and access to buyers.

The company's predictive farming model helps farmers to make well-informed decisions on plant protection, weed management, nutrient usage and also predict market conditions. Through its repository network partner, the startup provides financial assistance such as creating saving accounts, securing loans, purchasing farming inputs, among others.

Commenting on the recent capital infusion, Amit Sinha, co-founder, Unnati said, "On this journey of creating farmpreneurs through digital tools we are proud to have NABVENTURES (NABARD) as a partner. NABVENTURES shares our vision of bringing a positive change in the agriculture industry and creating value for all stakeholders. We look forward to gaining from NABARD's deep experience, knowledge and scale of operations in Indian agriculture and look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association."

The company said it will utilize the fund to expand its tech platform and set up more partner stores.

G. R. Chintala, chairman NABARD and NABVENTURES, said, "Unnati has created a platform to digitalize the major components in the food and agribusiness value chain. The predictive capabilities of the data captured by the platform enhances efficiencies while its transparent processes help in building trust among farmers and FPOs. Unnati has the potential to be a nationwide platform for multiple services in the agricultural value chain."

Manikumar S., chief operating officer, NABVENTURES said "Unnati team is solving some of the important problems faced by farmers like lack of access to quality inputs at transparent prices and lack of last-mile market linkage to sell produce at competitive prices. The amalgamation of a fintech layer has resulted in customer stickiness. We appreciate the agri input selling and market linkage proposition of the Unnati platform and are happy to support it on its onwards and upwards journey."

From the inception, the startup has helped create more than 2.5 lakh smart farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar, covering over 7 lakh acres of farmland.

Also Read: While Farm Bills Face Backlash In Parliament, Agritech Startups Hail the Move