Climate Innovation Compass

Why India?

Economic Opportunity

Agriculture & allied sectors contributes ~18% of India's GDP approximately $747 Bn, with a 18% of total GVA which is ~$512 Bn.

Climate Vulnerability & Risk

More than 85% farmers are at high climate risk, ~60% farms are rainfed in water scarce regions.

Policy Tailwinds

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
India-UK Free Trade Agreement: $100B agri-export target by 2030, requiring traceability, quality, and sustainability compliance.

Stakeholder Ecosystem

Customers

Smallholder Farmers (~85% of farms are 2Ha or Less)
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO), Food Cooperatives
Food Processors & FMCG
Exporter-oriented layers
Agri Fintech & Insurance

Policy Makers & Regulators

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India
Food & Agriculture Organization, India
National Dairy Development Board

Key Challenges

Erratic Weather & Monsoon Volatility: Untimely rains or change in optimal temperatures can disrupt crop cycles at times even ruining the entire yield.
Fragmented smallholder farms (<2Ha): less than 1% have access to innovation/tech.
Finance Gap & Subsidy Distortions: Limited access to formal credit & financing to adapt.

Path Ahead

RBI has identified climate events as the dominant cause driving up food price, describing food inflation as becoming "endemic." India's updated NDC targets agriculture as a priority sector for adaptation investment, with focus to push climate-smart agriculture with Govt.

Initiatives

NMSA, NICRA. 109 new climate-resilient crop varieties have been released, with a mandate to cover 310 vulnerable districts. India's Digital Agriculture Mission targets full digital connectivity of all farmers by 2030 across 400 districts.

Find out opportunities with Food & Agriculture sector

Opportunities

Food & Agriculture: Solution Landscape

Commercially Scaling

Opportunities with solutions reaching commercial parity, need capital to scale.

Full Stack Agriculture Supply Chain
Bio-inputs & Resilient Native Seeds
Cold Storage Solutions
Agroforestry, Organic Farming
Electrification of Farm Equipments

Applied Innovation

Opportunities with solutions available but need engineering, business model or financial innovation

Climate Smart Agriculture
Precision Farming
Hyperlocal Climate MRV systems
Farm Level Data Infrastructure
Farming-as-a-service
Parametric Insurance
Regenerative Agriculture

Fundamental R&D

Opportunities where solutions only exist in labs/pilots, or are yet to be invented

Gene editing for resilient crop varieties
Feed Additives & Vaccines
Nitrogen Fixation
Soil Microbial Studies of varied compositions
Weather & Pest resilient strains

Innovation Spotlight

Startup: DeHaat
Stage:Series E
Funding Raised: $222 Mn
Status: Revenue Generating & Scaling
Innovation: Full-stack connecting farmers to inputs, advisory and markets.

Startup:Fasal
Stage: Series A
Funding Raised: $19.4 Mn
Status: Revenue Generating & Scaling
Innovation: IoT hardware & agriculture automation solutions & precision farming.