The Belgian impact investor Incofin recently led an investment round in Sahyadri Farms, an Indian firm that works with smallholder farmers to grow and process food for export. The value of the equity round is INR 3.1 billion (USD 39 million), including participation from the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO); Korys, the impacting investing firm of Belgium’s Colruyt family; and the French government’s Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco).
Sahyadri Farms is a “farmer-led” firm that buys nine crops from 18,000 farmers who tend 31,000 acres. It supports the farmers with an online platform that helps them monitor the weather and select seeds and fertilizer. The firm plans to use its new capital to expand its warehousing and processing facilities as well as build a biomass plant to use its waste to power its operations.
Incofin Partner Rahul Rai describes Sahyadri “as a global role model of a partnership-based approach to farming that results in sustainable financial impact, climate change adaptation and inclusive growth in rural communities while creating a technology-driven, globally competitive business.”