Arya.ag: the power of fundraising for impact organizations

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, the students will be able to: Case overview/synopsis Arya.ag, India’s largest integrated grain commerce platform, was a social enterprise revolutionizing post-harvest management by offering warehousing, market linkage and financial access to smallholder farmers and farmer producer organizations (FPOs). Founded in 2013 by Prasanna Rao, Anand Chandra and Chattanathan Devarajan, the company-built momentum by combining technology with on-ground partnerships, later launching Aryadhan as its NBFC subsidiary, which received RBI approval in 2018 and scaled into full operation under dedicated leadership in 2019. The case is set in early 2025, as Aryadhan – now among the largest NBFC-run warehouse receipt financing operations in India – faced a pivotal decision about how to fund its next stage of growth. The founders confronted a set of interlinked choices: how to structure the next round of fundraising, how to select investors aligned with the company’s mission, what valuation methodology fits a business combining an asset-light platform with a capital-intensive NBFC book and how to negotiate terms that preserve both founder control and mission integrity. Complexity academic level This case is targeted at post-graduate business students pursuing a Master of Business Administration or a master’s with courses in business strategy, corporate finance or social entrepreneurship. It is equally applicable for executive education on entrepreneurship or impact investing. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.