Arya.ag, an integrated grain commerce platform, on Thursday, said it has acquired agriculture-focused data science company, Prakshep for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition aims to bolster artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities for farm digitization, crop monitoring, quality assaying and surveillance. The acquisition will help Arya in deepening its relationship with other agri-chain stakeholders like processors, banks and insurance companies.
The company stated that digital offerings of Prakshep will add to its deep tech capability to provide traceability, transparency and quality assurance. Post acquisition, Arya.ag will hold the largest database in agriculture adding farm details including boundaries, crop activities, health and yield valuation to its existing repository of storage and grain value chain database.
“Leveraging our technology stack, we have already created a digital identity for over 10,000 warehouses across India on Arya.ag and have built in transparency at all levels from aggregation to storage, finance and commerce. Under this context, Prakshep’s tech-led proposition is a natural fit as it enables a digital identity for every grain that traverses the value chain and builds in transparency. The aligned values of sustainability, climate-smart agriculture and inclusive economic growth have brought us together,” Prasanna Rao, co-founder of Arya.ag said.
Arya.ag said Prakshep’s acquisition also aligns Arya’s focus on climate-smart agricultural models with a reduced carbon footprint. Prakshep’s models have facilitated a 45% reduction in crop damage, 40% reduction in the use of chemicals, 35% reduction in water usage and a 30% fall in GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) emissions. Climate-smart agriculture is pertinent to the challenges of food security and climate change.
Arya.ag was originally part of the JM Baxi Group. In 2013, co-founders Prasanna Rao, Chattanathan Devarajan and Anand Chandra acquired a controlling stake in the company. Before taking a controlling stake in Arya, Rao was the head of farm commodity finance at ICICI Bank while Anand was previously ICICI’s national product head for agricultural commodity finance.
The company is backed by Quona Capital, LGT Lightstone Aspada and Omnivore. In December 2020, it had raised $21 million as a part of its Series B funding round. In March 2020, Arya.ag had raised $6 million in a pre-Series B funding round. Omnivore and LGT Lightstone Apsada have been backers of the company since the Series A funding round in December 2016.
