The Ag-tech industry has grown leaps and bounds in a short period, with several startups venturing into the space. However, they require guidance, mentorship, and access to resources to build a viable business. Against this backdrop, nurture.farm, India’s largest and leading ag-tech company is on a quest to build a resilient and sustainable farming ecosystem through tech-led solutions, and has launched its incubation program - Catalyst - to help agri-tech startups sustain themselves and expand further.
Nurture.Farm Catalyst will help agri-tech startups collaborate with key stakeholders across the agricultural ecosystem, gain capital for sustenance, test their products or solutions at scale, and gain access to infrastructural, knowledge and human resources. The program will offer its incubatees a wide spectrum of support to enable them and accelerate their growth journey. This incubation program focuses on nurturing the growth stage, pre-revenue, seed-funded, or angel-funded startups. It intends to support, collaborate and champion these startups as they break new grounds.
By partnering with nurture.farm, the startups can benefit from its experience, tap into their rural network, leverage industry connections, and the goodwill the company has garnered over time.
Dhruv Sawhney, Business Head & COO of nurture.farm, said, "Agricultural productivity is at an all-time low. Food security is at risk, with an ever-growing population set to reach 10 billion by 2050. In addition, pests, diseases, and natural calamities destroy more than 40% of annual production, thus resulting in an annual loss of over USD 108 billion due to damaged or lost crops.
nurture.farm has built digital highways to connect the heartlands of India by building robust technology platforms, Agri e-commerce marketplaces, market linkages, supply chain networks, advisory services, financial solutions, and shared economy models. The need of the hour is for the industry to come together, pool resources, exchange information, and share learnings to foster growth and scale quickly.
As we look at the various problems in the Agri industry, we realize that we need to pave the way for other Agtech startups to drive innovation & change. These budding startups can leverage our ecosystem, test their solution offerings at scale to establish a product-market fit, and help solve the challenges for the farmers, the Agri ecosystem, and the planet. The time to act is now, and our incubation program 'Catalyst' is another step toward achieving the same. We need to start focusing on fostering sustainable agricultural practices and work to integrate technology in this sector to solve the problems.”
Aspiring startups can apply for the program on nurture.farm’s website. Our knowledge partners include organizations like UPL, NPP, Advanta, and Decco. An experienced panel of experts from the agricultural industry will review each application, mentor startups, and help them grow. The program will accept entries until 31st March 2023.
