NABVENTURES, the venture capital arm of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), announced the first close of its second fund at ₹450 crore. The fund aims to raise a total corpus of ₹1,500 crore, including a greenshoe option. NABARD is the anchor investor in this fund, which targets early to growth-stage agritech startups addressing challenges across the agricultural value chain and rural markets, according to inc42.com.
The fund will invest across sectors such as agritech, food and agribusiness, rural fintech, climate-smart solutions, supply chain, and logistics. NABARD chairman Dr Shaji Krishnan V highlighted the focus on sustainability, climate resilience, financial inclusion, and livelihood creation. NABVENTURES was incorporated in April 2018 as a wholly owned subsidiary of NABARD and currently backs 23 startups, including Unnati, Eggoz, Beyond Snack, and Jai Kisan, per inc42.com.
This second fund builds on NABVENTURES’ existing investments through Fund I and AgriSURE. The firm recently led a ₹25 crore Series A round for aquaculture-focused startup Aquapulse and supported KisaanSay via AgriSURE. The fund’s emphasis on rural transformation and technology-driven solutions aligns with India’s growing agritech ecosystem, which has attracted increasing investor interest in recent years, inc42.com reported.
NABVENTURES’ ₹1,500 crore Fund II aims to accelerate innovation in agriculture and rural sectors, with the first close of ₹450 crore marking a significant milestone. The fund’s progress will be closely watched as it deploys capital to startups driving climate-smart and inclusive growth in rural India, according to inc42.com.