Monthly Archives: June 2015

Bringing together investors and agribusiness entrepreneurs on a common platform the Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) program of the ICRISAT Agribusiness and Innovation Platform, provided a forum for innovators to present their business ideas for funding support. Five agribusiness ventures focussing on ready-to-eat foods, farm mechanization through drone technology, meat franchises, organic e-retailing and fruit preservation technology were identified by investors for funding and business incubation support.

Over 32 entries (see box for categories) were found eligible and 10 business ideas were shortlisted for presentation to the panel of investors which had representatives from Omnivore Partners, Angel Investor-Malaxmi, Caspian Impact Investment, UnLtd Hyderabad, Villgro Innovations Foundation and CSS Tech Energy Ltd.

“Apart from investment, we are looking for incubation, mentoring and marketing support. ABI can help us source quality grains and legumes from the farmers directly at competitive prices,” said Ms Shruti Krishnakumar of Chennai Chef, marketers of millet and legume-based foods.

The camp was organized on 12 June. The selected entrepreneurs would receive funding support from investors and Government of India’s Technology Development Board’s seed-fund.

The National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in collaboration with ICRISAT will be holding a two-day Agri-Tech Investors Meet at the NASC Complex, New Delhi on 18-19 July.

The Agri-Tech Investors Meet is a unique technology commercialization platform that will showcase ready-to-commercialize agri-technologies from different sectors of agriculture and promote business incubation services. To be featured are presentations of agro-technologies developed under the NAIP and pre-selected through business-to-business (B2B) meetings. The 22 Business Planning and Development (BPD) Units of NAIP will also be featured to promote its incubator services for agro-enterprises and for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The event will be attended by a wide range of participants, from industry officials, scientists, entrepreneurs and incubator professionals.

“By helping nurture innovations and entrepreneurship in agriculture through its Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) program, ICRISAT is fulfilling its mission to help eliminate poverty and improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the drylands. The Agri-Tech Investors Meet, in particular, will serve as a platform for promoting incubator services to start-ups, such as providing innovators an opportunity to explore and incubate their ideas to facilitate technology commercialization through public-private partnerships,” said ICRISAT Director General William D. Dar.

Highlighting the importance of the meet, ICAR Director General S Ayyappan said, “Indian agriculture is full of challenges and opportunities. To accelerate agricultural growth, the way forward is to create a robust entrepreneurship climate within the sector. The Agri-Tech Investors Meet seeks to promote entrepreneurship in agriculture and accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies and activities through an array of business support resources and services,” Dr Ayyappan added.

The conference will showcase more than 70 ready-to-commercialize agro-technologies from different agricultural sectors – crops, horticulture, food technology, veterinary, agri-engineering, agri-inputs, and fisheries. In addition, B2B meetings will be held with over 60 top-level scientists from ICAR.

The two-day meet is being organized with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as industrial partner and the Indian School of Business (ISB) Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing as knowledge partner.

More than 70 ready-to-commercialize agro-technologies from different sectors of agriculture were showcased and 58 agro-technologies were commercialized at the Agri-Tech Investors Meet held in New Delhi on 18-19 July.

Conducted by the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in collaboration with the Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) program of ICRISAT, the technology commercialization platform saw a gathering of 400 participants representing industry, agri-scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and incubator professionals in the quest to create a climate of entrepreneurship in agriculture.

Delivering the inaugural address, Dr S Ayyappan,Director General, ICAR emphasized that “Indian agriculture is full of challenges and opportunities. To accelerate agricultural growth, the way forward is to create a robust entrepreneurship climate within the sector.”

In his special address, Director General William Dar said, “By helping nurture innovations and entrepreneurship in agriculture through our ABI program, ICRISAT is fulfilling its mission to help eliminate poverty and improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the drylands. I am extremely happy that ICAR is enhancing this initiative and network further.”

Dr K Kasturirangan, Member (Science), Planning Commission of India who was Chief Guest during the closing session, urged scientists to do market-oriented research to enhance public-private-partnerships for a prosperous future for Indian agriculture. Dr Kiran K Sharma, CEO of ICRISAT’s Agribusiness and Innovation Platform, lauded ICAR’s role in bringing different stakeholders together, while Mr SM Karuppanchetty, COO of the ABI program presented the work and progress of India’s agribusiness incubators.

Eighty Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were exchanged at the meeting, the value of the technology transfer being US$ 0.578 million. The event also held 98 B2B (Business-to-Business) meetings involving scientists, industrialists and agri-business entrepreneurs for which 43 Letters of Interest (LOIs) were signed for technology commercialization.

The event had the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) as industry partner and the Indian School of Business (ISB) Munjal Institute for Global Manufacturing as knowledge partner.

Since its inception in 2009, the Network of Indian Agri-business Incubators (NIABI) has marked its presence by impacting innovations, entrepreneurs, and institutions. In the third edition of its annual conference, “Indian Agri-Business Incubation Conference: NIABI 2013” held on 26 April at the HITEX Exhibition Center in Hyderabad, the focus was on agro-technology commercialization with emphasis on business meetings (B2B) and deal finalization between entrepreneurs/industries and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Conducted by ICRISAT through its Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) program along with ICAR, NIABI 2013 was hosted as part of AGRITEX 2013, which brought together the farming community, agri-specialists and agri-service providers.

Describing the role incubators play in nurturing start-ups, Chief Guest Dr PS Pandey, National Coordinator, NAIP (ICAR) said, “Incubators play a crucial role in bringing different stakeholders together. By helping nurture innovations and entrepreneurship in agriculture, ABI is fulfilling ICRISAT’s mission of eliminating poverty and improving livelihoods.”

Dr Kiran K Sharma, CEO, AIP-ICRISAT in his welcome address, spoke about how growing global agri-business ventures are exploring new markets to achieve growth and develop their businesses. He stressed the need to create competitive agri-business enterprises through technology development and commercialization to benefit farmers in the semi-arid tropics.

NIABI 2013 also served as a platform for 52 ready-to-commercialize agro-technologies from six sectors – crops, horticulture, food technology, animal husbandry, cotton and jute fiber products and fisheries. Agri-business incubators from NIABI presented their technologies, explained the process of technology transfer and listed the incubator services used in ensuring that the venture succeeds.

As part of the conference, 85 B2B meetings were conducted between incubator teams and industrialists and agri-business entrepreneurs for technology commercialization. Thirty-one technologies were commercialized from a pool of 82 shortlisted, high-impact technologies.

The estimated value of the technology transfer is 3 crore ($0.56 million).

Over 120 participants took part in this event which provided innovators with an opportunity to explore and incubate their ideas through NIABI.

The NIABI National Awards for 2013 were presented during the inaugural of AGRITEX 2013 on 25 April by Mr Kanna Laxminarayana, Minister for Agriculture and Agriculture Technology Mission, Government of Andhra Pradesh. The awards were instituted to recognize Business Planning & Development (BPD) Units of NIABI for their excellent performance and incubatees for their dedication in setting up successful agribusiness ventures.

The guests of honor at the event were Dr PS Pandey, National Coordinator, NAIP and Ms Joanna Kane-Potaka, Director, Strategic Marketing and Communication, ICRISAT, representing Dr Dar, Director General of ICRISAT.

The National Award for the Best Agribusiness Incubatee 2013 went to Kemrock Agritech Private Limited, an incubatee of the business incubator at Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Anand. The company played a major role in commercializing Anubhav liquid biofertilizer under the name Tapak Bund.

The National Award for the Best Agribusiness Incubator 2013 was awarded to the agribusiness incubator of the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Cochin.

The Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) program of AIP-ICRISAT conducted a one-day workshop for Mentors of the Network of Indian Agri-Business Incubators (NIABI) under the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) on ‘Handholding and Mentoring of BPD Units of NARS’ on 24 December at ICRISAT-Patancheru. The workshop was to facilitate mentoring arrangements for the NAIP-BPD units to facilitate funding for their entrepreneurs.

Mentors, business incubator managers and entrepreneurs deliberated on identifying areas of support required by the BPD units and entrepreneurs. The bankers guided the mentors and clients with information on funding. Modalities of engagement were worked out and 13 formal agreements were signed and exchanged among mentors and mentees.

Delivering the welcome address, Dr Kiran Sharma, CEO, AIP-ICRISAT gave a brief overview of NIABI’s activities over the last two years. Speaking on behalf of Director General William Dar, Dr CLL Gowda, Director, Research Program on Grain Legumes emphasized the crucial role of incubators in bringing different stakeholders together to accelerate the development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services.

Chief Guest, Dr Bangali Baboo, National Director, NAIP, spoke on the need to promote agri-business for the well-being of society and on making it commercially viable for job generation within the agriculture sector. He underlined the three key elements for successful hand holding and mentoring of the BPDs, namely, analysis of the techno-economic viability of entrepreneurial ideas, generation of commercial data, and creation of effective and detailed project reports for clients by the BPD units.

Over 60 participants, including Principal Investigators (PIs) and business managers of NAIP BPD units, entrepreneurs of BPD units, mentors of NIABI, senior bankers and ICRISAT staff participated in the meeting. The event also saw the release of NIABI-Nexus, the bi-annual newsletter of NIABI, and the NIABI year planner for 2013 by Drs Baboo, Gowda and Sharma.