NBFC Samunnati gets ₹150 crore in funding

Firm operates in agri credit sector

Chennai-based non-banking finance company Samunnati said it had raised ₹150 crore in a Series-C funding round led by Swiss investment firm responsAbility.

Existing investors Elevar Equity and Accel also participated in this round. The start-up, which is focussed on financing agriculture value chains, said it aimed to provide support to small and marginal farmers.

“We look forward to leveraging responsAbility’s global development finance experience,” said Anil Kumar S.G., founder and CEO, Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services, in a statement.

Samunnati said it operates in a market that needs more than $50 billion of credit every year. It said the financial constraints in agriculture remained pervasive, and the availability of credit was inequitably distributed and expensive.

‘Productivity impact’

This, it said, adversely impacted the productivity of small and marginal farmers. Samunnati added that it aimed to provide solutions for financial intermediation, market linkages and advisory services. “Samunnati is a unique institution addressing this gap,” said Akshay Dua, responsAbility — head of private equity, Asia Pacific-Agri and Food.