FMO invests $24m in Suminter India Organics

The commitment will form part of a round that features two other investors, both recent additions to the company’s cap table, according to a filing. Last December, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries agreed to join a round targeting USD 50m to USD 55m.

Suminter works with more than 90,000 smallholder famers across India, the Philippines, Uganda, and Ethiopia to harvest and export crops that are certified to be organic and GMO-free (genetically modified organism). The product range spans rudimentary ingredients such as soya, cotton, coconut, herbs, oilseeds, spices, and sugar.

The business is billed as an agricultural supply chain player, with ethical sourcing as core to the value proposition. The idea is that Suminter helps brands comply with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance requirements related to biodiversity management, fair business with indigenous peoples, and green-labelling food.

Suminter does not provide direct financial assistance to the farmers. It offers organic seeds, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides to encourage organic and natural farming practices, increase farm yields, and maintain high standards of the final product. This approach is said to be part of an effort to empower farmers, rather than render them dependent.

Previous investors include ResponsAbility, Nexus Venture Partners, Capricorn Investment Group, and The Skoll Foundation. 

FMO has otherwise been active in Indian agriculture of late with a contribution to the third fund from agtech-focused impact investor Omnivore. A first close of USD 150m against an overall target of USD 200m came in June. FMO is also a three-time investor in local agtech platform DeHaat.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Industrials
• Support services
• Expansion
• India
• FMO
• Morgan Stanley
• development finance institution
• Agriculture
• ESG