Omnivore and Lightstone Aspada backed post-harvest agri-tech startup Arya Collateral has launched A2ZGodaam, a one-stop comprehensive digital platform for search, discovery and fulfilment of warehousing for farmers, FPOs, Corporates and other stakeholders like traders and small aggregators. Launched on the occasion of Independence Day, the platform aims to empower farmers, and their organizations to gain freedom from the tedious activity of accessing warehouses, finance and other post-harvest services. For Corporates and other private players, the tech-enabled platform facilitates an end-to-end process for warehousing of agri-commodities.

This simple, integrated and easy to use platform helps users choose ancillary services like warehouse management, finance, transportation, labor, quality testing and commodity preservation services, through a robust technology-enabled back-end ecosystem. It also enables users to sell their stored produce on the platform by accessing multiple buyers across the country with complete assurance on quality.

A2ZGodaam envisages democratizing available agricultural storage infrastructure in the country through imparting discovery and transparency. It provides savings for all stakeholders by cost optimization in various services such as warehouse management services, financing solutions, quality assayers, insurance, and logistics through economies of scale. These savings will get passed down to users resulting in income appreciation for them.

Anand Chandra, Executive Director at Arya shared, “This Independence Day, we are helping the backbone of our society to gain independence from the rigid and complex system of Post-Harvest storage services. The inclusion of technology into the system is very crucial.

Warehousing and storage of commodities cannot be a standalone offering. Apart from democratizing the available agri storage infrastructure in the country, a unique proposition offered by A2ZGodaam is the integration of the platform with other ancillary services along with financial and market linkages. The service will help all users for a seamless experience regarding warehousing and other post-harvest services.”

India has about 143 million tonnes of constructed warehousing capacity. Studies suggest that as a country, India has a storage gap in excess of 35%. This is further acute if we consider requirements versus availability in primary agriculture centers which are closer to the farm gate. On the other hand, it is also ironic that despite the aforementioned shortage of space, large warehousing spaces remain unutilized. The platform is an online aggregation solution for agri-warehouses and other post-harvest solutions to address the needs of farmers, FPOs and other value chain stakeholders. The platform aims to organize the traditionally unorganized warehousing sector.

A2ZGodaam is a digital extension of Arya’s current business model and has been tested across a wide range of customers. It currently has more than 2000 warehouses listed with an aggregated area of about 30 million sq. ft. These warehouses store over 2.5 million tonnes of agri-commodities and have enabled finance of Rs. 2000 Crores from various Banks and Aryadhan Financial Solutions, Arya’s NBFC subsidiary. The platform is expected to facilitate the discovery of over 20000 agri-warehouses in the country and enable finance in excess of Rs.15,000 Crores.

The platform supplements the government's objective of helping farmers and FPOs to access warehouses and other post-harvest services at the click of a button. It also allows farmers to access newer buyers for their produce in line with the recent relaxations in the APMC Act. The platform is also in line with the government’s recently approved near farm Agri-Infra fund which will help to address the problems of infrastructure in the agricultural sector. It gains immense relevance in the post-COVID neo normal.

In March 2020, Omnivore and Lightstone ASPADA participated in a pre-series B funding round of USD 6 million in ARYA to support its Agritech and Fintech offerings. The company is now in the process of raising an additional USD 15 million to strengthen and scale these initiatives.