India's AgroStar raises $3.6m from IDG Ventures, Aavishkaar

The funds will be used to expand into new territories and to expand the company's leadership and technology teams. AgroStar hopes to establish operations in four more states over the next 12 months, in addition to the two in which it operates now.

AgroStar, founded in 2013, is one of many companies in India that rely on the missed calls to connect with customers. Customers can signal their interest by calling a number and hanging up before getting an answer, therefore avoiding the cost of the call.   

In the case of AgroStar, farmers who make a missed call to the company's toll-free number get a call back from an operator, who takes their order. Customers can order seeds, fertilizer and agricultural hardware, among other products.

In a statement, IDG's founder and Managing Director T.C. Meenakshisundaram said, "Having funded many vertical e-commerce leaders in early stage we believe AgroStar has the potential to be the disruptor and the leader in the Agricultural m-commerce vertical with a $200 billion market opportunity."

Aavishkaar previously invested an undisclosed amount in AgroStar's parent company ULink Bioenergy in 2013. The firm recently reached a first close of $45 million on its South and Southeast Asia-focused fund, which launched earlier this year with a target of $75 million.

Several companies in India's agriculture sector have attracted investment recently. In March, non-banking finance company (NBFC) Magma Fincorp raised INR5 billion ($80 million) from KKR, LeapFrog Investments, and India Value Fund Advisors, while similarly focused NBFC Sustainable Agro-commercial Finance raised INR1.1 billion from Mandala Capital in April.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Expansion
• Venture
• GPs
• India
• IDG Ventures
• Consumer
• Technology
• e-commerce
• Growth capital
• Agriculture