India Region

The Food and Agritech Ecosystem of Kerala Gets a Face-Lift

03 October 2024, New Delhi: The state of Kerala has a vibrant Agritech startup ecosystem comprising of about 200 startups, which cater to the diverse needs of the farmers and consumers. From smart farming solutions to supplying safe vegetables as well as e-commerce to waste management they cater to the complex, business-based farming and consumption systems. The food and agriculture tech startups from Kerala attracted huge early-stage funding witnessing 266% spike of $7.4 million in 2023 from $2 million in 2022. Armed with strong ecosystem created by the Kerala Startup Mission comprising of technical mentoring from six agriculture-focused incubators, along with technology-backup from Kerala Agricultural University, ICAR Institutions and State research agencies and commodity boards, food and agritech startup space is expanding in the state.  

AGRI UDAAN is India’s first Food & Agribusiness Accelerator programme managed by a-IDEA incubator, where the selected startups will receive mentoring for a period of four to six months for scaling up their business. Since its inception in 2015, AGRI UDAAN has supported 63 agritech startups which received a cumulative funding of Rs 120 crore. To support and strengthen food and agritech startup ecosystem in Kerala, the a-IDEA Technology Business Incubator of ICAR – National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad in collaboration with ICAR- Central Tuber Crops Research Institute’s Agri-Business Incubator has organised a stakeholder meeting through “AGRI UDAAN 7.0 – Road show/Start-up – Hunt” powered by State Bank of India at ICAR-CTCRI Campus Thiruvananthapuram.

This Roadshow was inaugurated by Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao, President of a-IDEA and Director of ICAR-NAARM, Hyderabad in the presence of Dr. G. Byju, Director of ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram; Dr. Roy Stephen, Dean of the College of Agriculture, KAU, Vellayani and Shri. Baiju N. Kurup, CGM of NABARD, Thiruvananthapuram. During the inaugural address Dr Rao has identified Kerala as potential state for promoting food and agritech startups due to its unique integrated commercial farming systems and emphasised need for providing customised- technology and business support to food and agritech startups in the state.

During the address, Dr G. Byju, Director, ICAR-CTCRI called for an integrated approach for nurturing student entrepreneurship in food and agritech space involving multiple stakeholders from research, education and business systems. Dr. Roy Stephen, Dean of the College of Agriculture, KAU has informed that the Kerala Agricultural University is nurturing student innovations through RKVY-RAFTAAR incubator, e-cell and entrepreneurship development clubs. Shri. Baiju N. Kurup of NABARD, Kerala RO, reiterated NABARD’s commitment to financing innovations that benefit small-scale farmers. Additionally, Shri K. S. Pradeep, SLBC Convener and GM of Canara Bank, emphasized the importance of identifying key investment areas within agribusiness to promote sustainable growth. Dr. S. Senthil Vinayagam, CEO of a-IDEA and Head of the ESM Division at ICAR-NAARM, has explained the about AGRI UDAAN programme and its achievements since its inception.

The AGRI UDAAN Roadshow witnessed vibrant interaction from stakeholders of Kerala’s food and agritech ecosystem such as Kerala Startup Mission, Kudumbashree, State Bank of India, scientists from ICAR and state governments, successful startups of Kerala such as Foo Foods India, XBOSON AI and Uptown Urban Farms Pvt Ltd. During the meeting, “ROOT sMART shop”, an innovative ICAR store model developed by ICAR-CTCRI Agri-Business Incubator, which provides access to products developed by ICAR Institutes was inaugurated. About 160 stakeholders comprising of food and agritech startups, investors, MSMEs, mentors, scientists, faculties, farmers and students participated in the programme.

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