In 2011, agriculture-focused venture capital firm Omnivore made its debut investment. That year, it had scanned about 50 agri-tech companies in India for an investment. That number has now shot up to 500 annually. This indicates the growing maturity of the segment, which is now attracting several other investors.
A key reason for the rise of the agri-tech segment is the increased participation of generalist venture capital funds, says Omnivore managing partner Mark Kahn in this edition of VCCircle Insight.
“When we were doing it (back in 2011-12), it was so lonely you could hear the crickets,” says Kahn.
These days, however, a lot of generalist funds want to have a handful of companies from the segment in their portfolios, he adds.
Indeed, VC firms such as Nexus, Blume and Kalaari Capital have made early-stage investments in the sector. Besides, the segment also saw a couple of big-ticket mid-stage deals this year including Tiger Global's investment in Ninjacart and Bertelsmann's bet on AgroStar.
Kahn also talks about the steps the government should take to shore up private investment in the segment. To find out more, listen to the podcast.
