Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a Rs 750-crore fund — AgriSure — to provide financial support to agritech startups.

Highlights of AgriSURE Fund:

• In the Budget Speech 2022-23, the Union Finance Minister announced that “a Fund with blended capital, raised under the co-investment model, will be facilitated through NABARD. This is to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain”.

• AgriSURE (Agri Fund for Start Ups & Rural Enterprises) Fund was set up following this announcement. 

• The Rs 750-crore ‘AgriSure’ will support startups and “agripreneurs” by providing both equity and debt capital.

• With the introduction of the AgriSURE Fund, the government aims to further drive investments in the agriculture sector that will empower farmers and boost the rural economy through accelerating accessible and affordable innovative solutions.

• With a focus on technology-driven, high-impact ventures, AgriSURE is designed to fuel growth and foster innovation in the agricultural and rural startup ecosystem. 

• A blended fund of Rs 750 crore is being created and registered with SEBI as an Alternate Investment Fund (Category-II). Contributions from the government is Rs 250 crore, NABARD is Rs 250 crore, and Rs 250 crore is being mobilised from banks, insurance companies, and private investors.

• This fund will assist startups in raising capital through both equity and debt, thereby increasing investment in the agriculture sector. 

• The increased investment and technological advancements are expected to enhance productivity and sustainability within the agriculture sector. 

• NABVENTURES, a 100 per cent subsidiary of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), is a fund manager for this fund.

Objectives of AgriSURE Fund:

• To create an investment-friendly climate for startups related to agriculture and allied activities and increase their investment absorption capacities.

• To accelerate the growth of startups in the agri ecosystem.

• Increase and sustain capital commitments to sector specific Alternative Investment Funds in order to enable them to provide equity support to agri & agri-tech startups engaged in serving farmers and Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO)/ Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) /Primary Cooperative Societies.

• Increase average size and number of investments by Alternative Investment Funds in agri & agri-tech startups.

• To encourage young entrepreneurs with innovative, technology-driven ideas and willingness to take high-risk, while engaging in high-impact activities in agriculture and agri-tech.

• To provide liquidity to existing agri & agri-tech startups that are unable to upscale their business due to lack of access to various kinds of financing like equity, debt instruments, etc.

• To give a boost to opportunities available for efficient and more profitable forward and backward linkage systems in the rural space that help make the farm produce value chain system stronger, robust and more systematic by encouraging startups operating in these activities and bring in new entrepreneurs into this field of agri-business.

• To enlist more players in the farm related ecosystem for enabling FPOs/FPCs/Primary Cooperative Societies to access latest automated farm processes and machinery through agri tech startups.

• To create additional employment opportunities for the technically qualified rural and urban youth to look up to agriculture as a business opportunity.

• To retain the existing rural youth in agriculture and encourage the younger generation to take to agriculture by providing newer technologies, techniques and equipment at their doorsteps from time to time. By encouraging the urban youth to establish new startups in the rural agricultural ecosystem to have a win-win situation for both young farmers and the urban entrepreneurs by working in their respective domains to benefit each other.

• To attract more investment in the agri and rural startup ecosystem by making contributions to various Alternative Investment Funds.

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