Arya.ag eyes to double profit and increase revenue by 70% to Rs 500 crore in FY24

Mumbai: Agri-tech platform Arya.ag is expecting to more than double its profit and grow the topline by around 70 per cent to Rs 500 crore this fiscal as it focuses more on sales along with expansion of its customer base.

Arya.ag claims to be the largest and the only profitable agri-tech platform focused on foodgrain storage and sale.

The Noida-based startup founded in 2013 by Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Chattanathan Devarajan and backed by funds like Lightrock, Accion Quona Capital, Asia Impact Fund and Omnivore Partners, has a revenue of Rs 298 crore, from which it earned Rs 16 crore of net income.

These funds collectively own 60 per cent of the company with a combined investment of USD 65 million. The company did not offer a break-up of either their individual holding or their investment.

It also has debt investors like Rabo Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, from whom it has borrowed Rs 980 crore so far.

"This year we see the numbers hitting Rs 500 crore in revenue and the net profit more than doubling to Rs 35 crore," Prasanna Rao told PTI.

Rao's optimism comes from growing e-commerce/sale of grains through the platform and the fee for its services to farmers.

Currently, most of its revenue come from storage/warehouse fee. But Rao expects the fee from selling grain on its platform should be a bigger revenue model going forward. Commission on sales stood at Rs 40 crore in FY23 and he expects this to cross Rs 100 crore this fiscal.

He expects the value of grain sold on its platform to double from Rs 3,000 crore in FY23 to at last Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal. Already during the first five months of the current fiscal, sale value crossed Rs 2,000 crore, Rao said.

Last year, the platform's main business of storage had clocked Rs 20,000 crore in aggregate value which he expects to touch Rs 27,000-28,000 crore this fiscal.

Arya serves over 660 FPOs (farmer producer organizations) which have more than 7 lakh individuals, farmers as members from across 21 states and 450 districts. The number of farmers has already jumped by 80,000 this fiscal so far, he said.

The platform deals primarily in wheat, paddy, soybeans, mustard and pulses. It also deals in cotton, spices, pepper, clove, cardamom, and chillies.

Rao claims to offer farmers using the platform benefits in the range of 10-30 per cent. It also offers loans to FPOs as working capital at an interest rate of 12.5 per cent. Its loan book was close to Rs 1,000 crore in FY22, which was Rs 300 crore in the preceding fiscal. He expects the loan book to jump at least 80 per cent to Rs 1,800 crore by March next year.

It has co-lending pacts with 27 banks which have collectively given out loans worth Rs 9,000 crore to these FPOs, he said. Arya also charges a fee from banks for co-lending and the income from these fees stood at Rs 120 crore in FY23.

Arya, which competes with NCML, NHBC Staragri, Farmart, Bijak, Ergos, Dehaat, Ninjacart, Waycool, and Samunnati, among others, manages warehouses spanning over 100 million square feet.