A leading player in the agricultural technology sector, Agritech Leader, has successfully secured a substantial investment of ₹500 crores from the renowned FMCG company, BL Agro

A full-stack agritech startup named Leads Connect has secured a substantial INR 500 crores ($62.5 million) investment from FMCG company BL Agro Industries Ltd. This investment is intended to strengthen Leads Connect’s agritech capabilities, providing greater value to farmers.

Over a three-year period, BL Agro will progressively invest in Leads Connect, eventually acquiring a controlling stake in the startup, making it a prominent player in the Indian FMCG sector. Leads Connect specializes in farm analytics and advisory services, harnessing agritech-driven data analytics, modeling, crop-cutting experiments, risk management, financial services (including farmer loans), and direct procurement from farmers.

This capital injection will empower Leads Connect to advance its technology, expand its outreach to farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), and cooperatives, and grow its beneficiary farmer base by establishing AGRANI Centers in various cities. It will also support awareness campaigns, facilitate mergers and acquisitions, promote contract farming, and invest in research for deep tech and AI/ML applications in agriculture. Furthermore, it will enhance procurement quality and improve the supply chain cycle for BL Agro.

Founded in 2009 by Navneet Ravikar, Leads Connect has been actively engaged in enhancing market linkages and will now enhance BL Agro’s supply chain management through this collaboration. BL Agro aims to leverage Leads Connect’s comprehensive farm value chain solution, encompassing farm advisory, fintech interventions, and market linkage, to establish a stronger connection with farmers. This partnership seeks to bring farmers closer to buyers, ensuring better prices and markets for their high-quality produce while maintaining control over quality and pricing.

Navneet Ravikar, Chairman and Managing Director of Leads Connect Services, commented on the investment, stating, “Agritech is taking a leading role, and Indian agriculture is at a pivotal point. Agriculture contributes nearly 20% to India’s GDP, and changing weather patterns and sustainability challenges have presented significant obstacles for the industry. It’s time for agri-tech to play a more substantial role in boosting productivity and addressing the challenges faced by farmers. Our partnership with BL Agro will enable us to expand agri-tech and agri-fintech in the country, delivering greater value to Indian farmers.”

Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director of BL Agro, welcomed the collaboration, saying, “We are pleased to announce our strategic investment in Leads Connect, with the aim of charting a new course in the Indian agri-tech sector. Over the next three years, we will invest INR 500 crores, eventually gaining a controlling stake in Leads Connect. The synergy between BL Agro and Leads Connect will enhance market linkages, offering Indian farmers greater value. We hope this partnership will bring farmers closer to consumers through improved supply chain management.”