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MCCIA and Ajinkya Rahane announce ₹1 crore seed fund for agri-tech startups
The announcement was made at MCCIA in presence of Rahane, MCCIA president Deepak Karandikar, director general Prashant Girbane; and cricket humourist Vikram Sathaye
Cricketer Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday announced a ₹1 crore seed fund for agri-tech startups under his initiative ‘Ajinkya Rahane and Associates’, formed to create a direct monetary positive impact on farmers. The startups to be funded by Rahane will be curated by a committee at the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), comprising of legal, finance, technology, and agriculture domain experts.
The announcement was made by over 50 agri-tech startup founders at MCCIA in presence of Rahane, MCCIA president Deepak Karandikar, director general Prashant Girbane; and cricket humourist Vikram Sathaye.
“The first seed investment would be made by end of December 2022 and minimum other three investments by end of March 2023. Apart from Ajinkya, three more individuals have expressed their interest to invest in the fund,” the MCCIA team has said.
Rahane said, “Farmers are our hero and I always wanted to contribute towards their financial empowerment. I have made some investments prior to this fund; however, I was looking for an institutionalised and structured form of funding to agri-tech start-ups. Even though the funding will be in form of equity, I am not looking at monetary returns but want more in terms of a higher direct monetary positive impact on farmers.”
