Yes Bank Leads $1 Million Debt Funding In Agritech Startup Origo

• The startup will use the funding to improve its business services and to expand its presence in the Agri supply chain sector.
• In October 2020, It had raised Rs 35 crore in a debt financing round from Chennai-based Northern Arc Capital.
• Origo Commodities provides post-harvest management solutions for agricultural commodities.

Gurugram-based Agritech supply chain startup Origo Commodities, on February 4, said that it has received Rs 75 crore (or about $1 million) in a debt financing round led by the Mumbai-based private sector bank Yes Bank Limited.

The startup aims to utilize the latest funding to expand its presence in the Agric supply chain sector, improve its business services and structures within the Indian agricultural ecosystem.

"The debt funding from Yes Bank will help the company to deepen its presence in the Agri supply chain domain and will also help overcome challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," the company said in a release.

The funding comes just three months after it raised Rs 35 crore (equivalent to $479K) in debt financing in October 2020 from Chennai-based financing firm Northern Arc Capital.

Following this funding round, To date, It has raised over Rs 235 crore (or about $32 million) in a total of four funding rounds. according to the CrunchBase report.

Founded in 2010 by IIT Delhi graduate Sunoor Kaul and Mayank Dhanuka, Origo Commodities (Origo Commodities India Pvt. Ltd.) provides various agricultural services to reduce post-harvest losses and maximizing value for farmers, traders, buyers, and financial institutions.

It offers comprehensive solutions for procurement, quality grading, professional and scientific storage, preservation technology, and structured financing to farmers and traders through their warehousing network and banking partnerships.

Origo claims to have more than 500 warehouses across 15 states with a storage capacity of 3.5 million metric tonnes. It also claims to have $1.4 billion of assets under management (AUM). It currently has 1,800 employees working in the startup.

Commenting on the fundraise, Sunoor Kaul, Co-founder, Origo Commodities, said, "We are delighted to associate with YES Bank, and acknowledge that our association with them will be beneficial to the agri-community. We hope that the funding will revitalize the sector with liquidity, and make the supply chain more efficient."

It also plans to unlock Agric-commodity investments for retail investors in the coming months, which could help to establish efficient Standard Operation Procedure (SOPs) within the ecosystem.

"Agri supply chain has always demanded more formal financing to make it efficient and robust. We believe this partnership with Origo Commodities, will pave the way for enhanced liquidity in the sector and support the entire ecosystem – right from the smallholder farmer, all the way to the processing units," said Nikhil Sahni, National Head – Government Banking, Yes Bank.

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