Agritech sector to create 8-10 unicorns over the next five years: Avendus Capital Report

The Indian agritech sector is poised to become a $34 billion market by 2027, growing at a compounded annual rate (CAGR) of 50 percent over the next five years, a steep rise from $4 billion currently. according to a report by investment banking franchise Avendus Capital. The report finds that the agritech sector could create 8-10 unicorns over the next five years, with 2-3 companies launching Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) during that period.

To talk about the outlook of the agritech sector, Startup Street spoke to Pankaj Naik, executive director and co-head, digital and technology investment banking, at Avendus Capital; Sateesh Nukala, CEO of BigHaat; and Prasanna Rao, co-founder and CEO of Arya Collateral.

Meanwhile, frontline workforce management firm BetterPlace has raised $40 million in an extended Series C funding round from new and existing investors, and hopes to use the funds to strengthen its tech enhancements and AI capabilities. Startup Street spoke to Pravin Agarwala, the co-founder and CEO of BetterPlace, on this latest fundraise and their growth strategy.

Tier-2 and 3 cities cornered a greater share of India’s e-commerce market over the last 12 months, with easy access to large assortments of products prompting shoppers in under-penetrated markets to turn to online purchases, according to a report by Unicommerce.

Sample this — the e-commerce market share of tier-3 cities grew from 34.2 percent in 2021 to 41.5 percent in 2022, while tier-2 cities rose from 19.4 percent to 21.4 percent during the period.

At the same time, market share of tier-1 cities dipped from 46.4 percent in 2021 to 37.1 percent in 2022, the report added. That's not all, the year saw a change in consumer behaviour and preferences as buyers adopted both offline and online modes of shopping but online commerce continued to see a bigger growth momentum. The sectors that did well were the beauty and personal care sectors as well as eyewear and accessories. Startup Street spoke to Kapil Makhija, CEO of Unicommerce, to decode this report.