Agri-fintech start-up Ayekart raises $5.5 m from Caspian, Siply and others

Agri-fintech startup Ayekart has raised $ 5.5 million through a mix of equity and debt from Caspian Debt, a corporate lending financial services company, and Siply, a tech-enabled platform providing micro financial services.

Founded in December 2020, Ayekart strengthens the traditional businesses and the agri- value chain through finance, technology and supply chain management. Ayekart began its commercial rollout in September 2021 and has clocked gross transaction value (GTV) of ₹139.5 crore in FY21-22, with PAT positive, the company said in a statement. In the same month, Ayekart raised an angel round of approximately ₹5.5 crore.

Ayekart currently hosts operations in 13 States and is expecting to tap into the export market by Q3 2022. It is working towards its goal of enabling 10 million traditional businesses technologically and financially along with globalising its services to 15 countries in the next five years.

Debarshi Dutta, CEO & Co-Founder, said, “Ayekart constantly thrives to enable the best of its services through finance, technology, and services for the betterment of FPOs, farmer communities and traditional businesses. We will use the fund raised to strengthen our ecosystem to meet the necessities of small and traditional vendors, dealers/distributors, farmer communities, millers, processors, distributors and retailers. This will further boost disbursements, given the various opportunities that we have at present. We are very humble and thankful to our investors for their trust and are grateful to them for their unstinting backing during our growth phase.”

The fund will be utilised to serve the burgeoning business needs of traditional businesses in the food and agri sector by providing financial and technological assistance to elevate their businesses and eventually enhance growth.

Sousthav Chakraborty, CEO & Co-Founder, Siply, said, “We found Ayekart extremely innovative and adding value to the much-needed agri-ecosystem through the right mix of technology and expertise. Hence, we decided to join hands and partner with them in this endeavour. We expect to continue building our exposure to Ayekart as we both scale our partnership.”

Avishek Gupta, Managing Director & CEO - Caspian Debt, said, “We are delighted to support Ayekart in their growth journey of empowering small businesses in the agriculture value chain. Ayekart plays a significant role in providing new market avenues as well as payment assurance to the suppliers in the agri ecosystem. Their platform provides strength to the local ecosystem players (Processors, Distributors, and Retailers) helping them to grow the business without affecting their margins thus creating a positive impact. We look forward to continuing our participation along their journey.”

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