Venture Capital firm Sequoia Capital India is exploring opportunities to invest in agricultural companies.
“Agriculture is taking a new shape. With retailing and branding ,a lot of investment is happening in the organic and agricultural space. Indian companies are also entering geographies like Africa and other countries for agriculture,” GV Ravishankar, managing director of Sequoia Capital India, said.
The company said it had identified the gaps in this segment and was looking for right partners to fund their projects.
“Companies here are looking at agricultural outsourcing by opting for cheaper options in neighbouring countries so as to produce similar things there at less cost,” he added.
He said they were adding 15-20 investments each year in India. Last year, Sequoia funded 13 companies and expects the same number this year, as it had not set any outlay or projections for the investments.
The venture capital firm’s funding generally lies between Rs 1 crore and Rs 200 crore across verticals such as healthcare, technology, finance and consumer goods.
More From This Section
So far, it has funded around 10 companies from Hyderabad, and is looking for more opportunities in the state. “Hyderabad has been a good market for us and we are constantly looking for opportunities. If we find good partners in healthcare, e-commerce and others, we will fund them,” he said.
With the entry of venture capital firms, private equity players and other individual investors, there is a huge scope for start-ups and growth stage companies to get funding and expand operations, MK Arunkumar, director (client services), Grant Thornton, told mediapersons here at a seminar on ‘Funding Your Future Growth- Options & Challenges.’
The seminar was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) - Hyderabad. On the occasion, the CII announced the entry for the regional emerging entrepreneurs awards for the year 2011.