ESG First Fund is a USD 250 million fund focused on investing in Asia and Africa with the mandate of generating superior Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) outcomes and commercially viable financial returns alongside positive social impact. The fund was established with the primary objective of improving these areas especially along the supply chains serving the European markets.
INI Farms has pan-India operations spanning contract farming, aggregation, supply chain management and are serving food retailers globally. INI Farms is working closely together with agri-tech firm AgroStar, a highly engaged digital farmer network with over 5 million users, and a retail network of 2000+ stores.
Purnima Khandelwal, CEO & Co-founder, INI Farms said, “The agriculture story in India is poised for a multi-fold growth. We believe that large platforms providing end-to-end services to the farmers from advisory and inputs to output offtake is going to drive this transformation. This investment will provide us with a great opportunity to grow multi-fold with expansion into the entire agriculture output business and leveraging our strong supply chain capabilities.”
Commenting on the investment, Abhishek Mittal, Partner- Credit – Aavishkaar Capital said, “INI’s Farms continued commitment to deliver export-quality fruits and vegetables produced in an environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive manner and to exacting global standards, sets it apart to meet the growing demands of today’s conscientious consumer. INI, along with Agrostar, is well placed to meet the demands of global markets while empowering farmers at the back-end.”
He added “Aavishkaar Capital is excited to foray into structured credit products with ESG First Fund and we look forward to partnering with high growth businesses across Asia and Africa that are operating in global supply chains. We are committed to empowering such businesses with non-dilutive and flexible financial solutions that are better aligned to their growth needs.”