Industry News

Welcome to ArisTechia’s first issue of 2026, spotlighting key agritech developments across Emerging Asia, with global relevance.

01/06/26

Arya.ag raises $80.6M Series D to expand infrastructure-led agritech

Indian agritech platform Arya.ag, a B2B market linkage and services provider for the grain value chain, has closed a Series D funding round totaling INR 7.25 billion (USD 80.6 million) in equity financing. The round was led by GEF Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on sustainable and climate-linked infrastructure investments.

The capital is being deployed toward strengthening core operating infrastructure rather than geographic expansion. Arya.ag is prioritising deeper farmer participation, expansion of climate-resilient post-harvest systems, and further development of its digital capabilities across storage, quality assessment, and financing. A key objective is reducing post-harvest losses while improving farmer access to structured markets and formal credit through tech-enabled grain collateralisation.

Founded in 2013, Arya.ag operates one of India’s largest post-harvest agricultural networks, with a presence across approximately 60% of the country’s districts. Its platform aggregates grain through a distributed network of around 12,000 leased warehouses, enabling standardised storage and quality certification while connecting farmers and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) directly to buyers and embedding financial services such as loans secured against stored commodities.

For the financial year ending December, the company reported net revenue growth of 28% to INR 4.5 billion (USD 54 million), alongside year-on-year profit growth despite volatility in global crop prices.

Why does this matter?

Against a challenging funding environment, Arya.ag’s ability to raise Series D alongside sustained revenue and profit growth highlights continued investor conviction in infrastructure-led, asset-light models. The transaction underscores a shift toward platforms that combine physical control of post-harvest supply chains with data-driven finance and risk management, positioning agritech less as a pure software play and more as critical agricultural infrastructure.

05/01/26

Unnati acquires Gramophone in merger-led agritech consolidation

Indian agri-fintech Unnati has acquired another local agritech, Gramophone. The transaction is structured as a merger rather than a conventional cash acquisition, leveraging the complementarity of the two companies.

Gramophone was backed by Info Edge, an Indian digital company known for building and investing in digital marketplaces. Under the transaction, Info Edge will exchange its stake in Gramophone for equity in Unnati and make a fresh capital investment, becoming a minority shareholder in the combined company.

Founded in 2016, Gramophone provides farmers with agronomic advice and access to seeds, fertilisers, and crop protection products through a mix of digital channels and local retail partners. Gramphone has reported +1 million farmers onboarded on its platform. Established in 2017, Unnati works with farmers and rural retailers to distribute agricultural inputs while embedding financial services such as short-term credit, enabling farmers to purchase inputs and manage seasonal cash-flow constraints.

Gramophone reported revenue of approximately INR 670 million (USD 7.4 million) in the most recent financial year, while Unnati reported revenue of around INR 2.91 billion (USD 32 million).

Why does this matter?

The merger reflects a broader consolidation trend in Indian agritech, as platforms seek to build integrated, infrastructure-enabled models that deepen engagement with smallholder farmers across the agricultural value chain.

05/01/26

Sri Lanka’s Cultive8 gets $650K investment from Hatch Fund Singapore

Sri Lankan agritech Cultive8, formerly Agrithmics, has received a USD 650,000 investment from early-stage investment fund Hatch Fund Singapore.

Cultive8 is a prominent agritech in Sri Lanka. It offers a cloud-based solution for crop forecasting and farmer management to agribusinesses that work with smallholder farmers. The startup integrates AI and IoT technologies to address operational challenges in agri value chains.

Photo credit: Hatch

The investment from Hatch Fund Singapore is designated as growth capital to accelerate Cultive8’s regional scaling beyond Sri Lanka and into wider Asian markets. In addition to the cash commitment, Hatch Fund will provide Cultive8 with access to a broader accelerator network in the region.

Cultive8 rebranded from Agrithmics in 2023 following a USD 1.75 million Pre-Series A round, initially expanding operations into Bangladesh and subsequently establishing its headquarters in Singapore with operational teams across Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh.

Why does it matter?

This funding event reflects broader interest from early-stage investors in South Asian B2B agritech solutions that blend digital automation, supply-chain software, and embedded financial services for farmers. Cultive8’s evolution from a Sri Lanka–based startup to a regionally oriented technology provider illustrates the increasing cross-border capital flows into agritech emerging from smaller markets.

06/05/26

Global Innovation Fund supports mangrove-based aquaculture for Indonesian farmers

The Global Innovation Fund (GIF), a non-profit, impact-first investment fund, has made an investment to scale integrated mangrove aquaculture in Indonesia through BlueYou, a developer of nature-based aquaculture systems that integrate mangrove restoration with shrimp production.

The model restores mangroves within active aquaculture ponds, addressing coastal degradation caused by historical mangrove clearance. To date, the approach has supported more than 3,500 farmers and contributed to the restoration of approximately 12,500 hectares of mangroves. The system applies structured farm design, environmental monitoring, and standardised management practices to support productivity gains at the pond level.

The investment will support expansion across Indonesia, where an estimated one million hectares of degraded shrimp ponds are suitable for restoration, and enable access to blue carbon finance to support large-scale deployment. The transaction reflects growing investor interest in climate infrastructure models that link ecosystem restoration with sustainable livelihoods.

BlueYou is a Switzerland-based company that designs and operates sustainable aquaculture and coastal restoration systems for seafood value chains.

07/01/26

Syngenta expands digital app for smallholder farmers in India

Syngenta Group, a global agricultural inputs and crop science company, is expanding its digital agriculture app in India to deepen support for smallholder farmers through data-driven agronomy and decision-support tools. The Cropwise Grower app uses AI, satellite imagery, and analytics to deliver crop recommendations, seed guidance, pest alerts, and localised market and price information.

The app currently serves +2.38 million farmers and covers approximately 6 million hectares of farmland across India, with adoption concentrated in states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Syngenta is adding new features, including an AI-powered chatbot that responds to farmer queries in regional languages, and plans to expand coverage to additional agricultural regions.

Syngenta is also looking to integrate Cropwise with the agriculture ministry’s proposed Virtually Integrated System To Access Agricultural Resources (VISTAAR), which could extend access to digital training, credit, insurance, and market services.

Why does this matter?

The expansion reflects continued investment by large agribusinesses in digital tools aimed at improving productivity, resilience, and information access for India’s smallholder farmers. AI-driven advisory delivered in local languages is increasingly becoming a baseline feature in agritech solutions, shaping how companies engage farmers and scale digital services across fragmented agricultural markets.