‘A new chapter’: BL Agro eyes increased share of India’s agri-tech market with US$62.5mn investment

16-Oct-2023 - Last updated on 13-Oct-2023 at 13:07 GMT

BL Agro has committed US$62.5mn in investment to purchase Leads Connect, one of the country’s most comprehensive agricultural technology firms. ©Getty Images

Related tags India agri-tech

Indian FMCG major BL Agro has committed US$62.5mn in investment to purchase Leads Connect, one of the country’s most comprehensive agricultural technology firms, in a bid to increase its presence in the burgeoning sector.

BL Agro is best-known for its finished products brand Nourish and its edible oils processing business, but this year the firm is attempting to cement a strong position in the local agri-tech industry, with a INR5bn (US$62.5mn) investment.

This investment, which will be spread out over the course of three years, will be for an eventual controlling stake in agri-tech specialist firm Leads Connect which has developed a stack of relevant farm analytics and advisory technologies.

Leads Connect is integrated into a wide and comprehensive portion of the agri-tech space, covering data modelling, crop cutting, financial services, procurement from farmers, risk management, drone utilisation and more, as well as the development of its AI-based Agriculture and Disaster Risk Analytics using Next Intelligence (AGRANI) platform and AGRANI centres in various cities across the country.

“[This] strategic investment in Leads Connect is aimed at creating a new chapter in the Indian agri-tech industry,” BL Agro Managing Director Ashish Khandelwal said.

“The synergies [between our two companies] will help Indian farmers get more value by improving market linkages leading to higher yield and income [and] we also hope that this association will help farmers get closer to the consumers with better supply chain management.”

Leads Connect has announced that this new funding will be used for further technology advancement as well as the establishment of proper brick-and-mortar AGRANI centres in the country to improve access by farmers.

“We will also be looking at Research for Deep-tech and AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine leaning) in agriculture, as well as to improve quality procurement and supply chain cycle for BL Agro,” Leads Connect Chairman and Managing Director Navneet Ravikar said.

“Agriculture contributes to almost 20% of India’s GDP, but changing weather patterns and challenges around sustainability have been challenging the industry - It is time for agri-tech to play a larger role to increase productivity and mitigate the crisis for farmers.

“Indian agriculture is at an inflection point with agri-tech at the forefront.”

Agri-fintech

Leads Connect has also successfully secure a strategic partnership with the State Bank of India to boost the integration of structured financial services into the local agriculture scene using technology.

“As a part of this collaboration, Leads Connect will play a pivotal role in supporting SBI Bank in sourcing [loans] [and] also help solve cash-flow constraints during key cycles in farming, by providing quick and easy loans at very competitive rates,” the firm added.

“The aim is to empower farmers, doubling their incomes, and supporting a climate resilient agro-ecosystem with vital financial services.”

Moving forward, Leads Connect will be integrating the AGRANI platform into the dairy agriculture space as well as stepping up work in the area of Geospatial Intelligence, SpaceTech and Drone as a Service (DrAAS) for precision farming.