DGV raises $3.1 m from Info Edge Ventures, Omnivore

Our Bureau Updated - November 16, 2021 at 08:41 AM.

The dairy sector neo-banking start-up provides access to payments, liabilities, and asset products

Mumbai, 25/06/2019: A worker of Aarey dairy farm is seen handling the milk jars during a lean period of the day in Mumbai on June 25, 2019. In the year 1951, the first Dairy in Asia was established in Aarey Milk in the fringes of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai with the aim of providing sterilized milk to the citizens of the city. A separate Dairy Development Department was set up in the year 1958 to establish the necessary infrastructure for the development of dairy sector in the entire state. The Heads of this department were called Milk Commissioner. After this, 38 Dairy and 81 Chilling Centers were established in the state as per the requirement. In the 1960s, the average milk collection per day in the state was 1 lakh liters, which increased by 114 lakh liters a day between 2015 and 2016. However, the total production of Aarey milk is very less in compare to the demand in the maximum city. Ironically, market is ruled by the private operators. Meanwhile, the state cabinet in 2017 approved a plan to push the Aare Milk brand in the city. Over a period of time Aarey dairy has been neglected by the state government. And, presently the green pasture of Aarey, which is one of last resort for oxygen, is being sliced for Metro 3 carshed and proposal to shift the existing Byculla zoo here. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Digivriddhi Technologies Private Limited (DGV), a dairy industry focussed neo-banking start-up has raised $3.1 million in pre-Series-A round from Info Edge Ventures and Omnivore.

Through its assisted digital platform, DGV is providing dairy farmers access to formal banking and financial services. DGV is currently working with some co-operative dairy unions and their respective milk co-operative societies and farmers, by providing them access to payments, liabilities, and asset products through its partnership with Federal Bank.

DGV was set up in 2019 by Ragavan Venkatesan, who previously was part of the founding team at both IDFC Bank and NPCI. DGV’s senior management includes Mukesh Ranjan, former RuPay Card Scheme and Jio Payments founding member, Ravi Singh, former NPCI HR Lead and Sorabh Mehta, former Business Lead at VISA Processing Services.

“We are delighted to welcome Info Edge Ventures and Omnivore to lead our first institutional round. Info Edge Ventures’ experience in scaling digital marketplaces, and Omnivore’s deep experience in Agtech, will allow us to create a full-service platform for dairy farmers,” said Ragavan Venkatesan, Founder and CEO, DGV.

Farmers lack access

Kitty Agarwal, Partner, Info Edge Ventures said the Indian dairy industry is the largest dairy market globally at $145 bn, engaging more than 75 million dairy farmers. “Despite the huge size of this industry and its importance to our livelihoods, dairy farmers lack access to basic financial products and services and even struggle to access cash conveniently. DGV is building a neo-banking platform for these dairy farmers by digitising the entire payment stack using Aadhaar, National Payment Switch and Micro ATM technology with plans to build various financial products customised to credit, insurance and other needs of these farmers. We are very excited to partner with Ragavan, who is extremely passionate about bettering the lives of these dairy farmers and bringing much needed financial inclusion to them.”

“We are excited to partner with Ragavan in his mission to provide class leading financial services to the 100 million stakeholders in India’s dairy sector,” Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner, Omnivore.

Shalini Warrier, Executive Director and Business Head - Retail, Federal Bank, said the bank’s partnership with DGV is another step towards expanding financial inclusion in the country. “Under this arrangement, we are providing API banking services across payments, liabilities, and relevant asset products to dairy farmers in Gujarat. DGV’s execution model is unique and aids reimagining of financial access to farmers. We intend to replicate this model in other parts of the country, and are confident that this collaboration with DGV, will revolutionise the dairy neo banking space”.

Published on November 16, 2021 03:11