In Startup50 2017: Arya Collateral is an agri value chain integrator working across the post-harvest value chain, catering to the needs of farmer organizations, Banks, National and International commodity players through innovative solutions in warehousing, finance and market linkages. Arya today manages more than 1.2 million tonnes of produce across 650 warehouses in 17 states. The Jury picked Arya for its strong revenue growth and its innovative approach to solving post-harvest challenges in the agri supply chain.  

Founders: Krishna B. Kotak, Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra

Adding Value at a critical stage: Established in 2013, Arya Collateral Warehousing Services (Arya) brings value to the post-harvest chain by connecting farmers with end-user corporations and processors through integrated services of procurement, primary processing, quality assurance, warehousing, finance and market linkages.

Three-prong advantage: Through its unique model, Arya allows farmers to sell their produce to an agri-corporate/partner or hold the commodity in a warehouse approved and managed by it till they realise a better price. In case the farmer opts to store, Arya arranges for finance from banks at reasonable rates against the security of his/her produce. When the farmer decides to sell the produce subsequently, his loan is liquidated and the upside is available to the farmer as his gain after adjusting the costs. Arya has implemented this model with farmer organisations covering more than 35,000 smallholder farmers over the last three years.

Arya, in partnership with Rabobank Foundation, has designed and implemented a first-of-its-kind ‘price risk mitigation tool’ to cover smallholders from the risk of falling prices.

In association with JSW Steel, Arya has provided small steel silos to bridge the last mile storage problem in a cost effective and scalable manner. It has also introduced GrainPro bags that can store up to 500 tonnes produce securely at the farm gate. These flexible structures that have been put up in Gujarat first to disrupt the traditional way commodities have been stored in India.

Steady growth trajectory: Arya has built a team of 190 full-time employees and 584 contractual employees. In December 2016, it received an investment of US$ 3 million from Aspada Investment Company. With the vision of increasing farmer incomes while reducing food wastage in the economy, Arya strives to impact larger sections of the agricultural community and beyond.

Quick Facts:

• Unique model provides seamless integration of farmers to end-users, implementation of price-risk mitigation tools and flexible storage solutions
• Aims at enhancing farmer incomes by nearly 40 per cent and reducing transaction costs for clients
• In December 2016, received an investment of US$ 3 million from Aspada Investment Company