Archive · 9 Aug 2025
Expert Discusses India's Agritech Sector: Challenges and Trends
Imagine India's food journey as a long, twisty road from farms to your plate.
Hemendra Mathur is like a guide who helps new tech companies make that journey smoother.
He explains that agritech (tech for agriculture) had a slow start but then boomed.
Now, the focus is on making money and helping farmers.
The biggest hurdles are finding skilled workers and dealing with different rules in different states.
Mathur wants the government to create special teams and share data to help agritech companies succeed.
Agritech expert Hemendra Mathur discusses India's agritech sector, challenges, and trends.
Mathur highlights the complexity of India's food supply chain and the role of agritech startups.
Agritech investment grew dramatically from 2020-2021, followed by a funding drop post-pandemic.
Key challenges include talent acquisition and navigating differing state regulations.
Mathur advocates for dedicated agritech innovation cells, catalytic capital, and open digital data stacks.
- Who
- Hemendra Mathur, a partner at Bharat Innovation Fund and a mentor in the agritech space.
- What
- Hemendra Mathur discusses the evolution, challenges, and future of India's agritech sector.
- When
- The conversation covers the period from 2010 to the present, highlighting key phases of growth and challenges.
- Where
- Focus is on the agritech landscape in India.
- Why
- To understand the current state and future of agritech in India.
- Mathur's Role
- Partner at Bharat Innovation Fund, Co-founder of ThinkAg, Chairman of FICCI's agritech task force
- Agritech Investment Focus
- From 2010-2017, focus on impact; Post-2022, focus on profitability
- Agri Stack
- Government-led data repository for agriculture adopted in 2021, now with 60-70 million farmers enrolled.
- Biggest Challenge
- Talent acquisition
- ThinkAg Initiative
- A not-for-profit initiative to help startups scale
- Mathur's Government Role
- Member of the Union Government's expert committee for Agri Stack