News Corp VCCircle Food & Agri Investment Summit 2018
The Recipe for Growth
More than $322 million of private equity found its way into the food and beverages sector in the first half of 2018. This was way above the highest amount that the sector had raised - $214 million in 2014 – in the past four years. This year marked the first-ever control deal by General Atlantic in India in which it acquired 80% stake in Capital Foods, besides investments by Sofina SA in the maker of Bira brand of beer, IIFL backing Bikaji Foods, and Rabo Equity pumping money into Nature Bio Foods, to name a few deals.
The heavy flow of capital this year, incidentally, doesn’t include investments in the food-tech sector. Swiggy, for instance, became the second food-tech company to enter the unicorn club on the back of $210 million it raised from existing as well as new investors in June this year. And if media reports are to be believed, the food-tech company is set to raise another round. Besides, it has been reported that Amazon is planning to invest more than $500 million in food retailing. Uber and Ola are also making strides in the sector. Estimates suggest that the food-tech sector is set to grow from its current size of $700 million to $2.5 billion by 2021.
As one of the largest beneficiaries of the large size of the consumer market, the growing economy and disposable incomes, the food sector is undeniably on the growth path.
Meanwhile, agriculture, which has traditionally been neglected, is also beginning to see action as startups with diverse propositions are stepping in to solve big and small problems that farmers face. From automation to technology that helps boost productivity, better storage, market linkages and discovery of fair price, the sector has seen startups spring up in various domains with investors in tow.
The Food and Agri Summit being organized by News Corp VCCircle will sharply examine the developments in the sector. The Summit will be attended by leading food companies, food and agri tech entrepreneurs, PE, VC and early-stage investors as well as deal facilitators.
09:00am - 09:45am
Registration & Networking
09:45am - 10:00am
Opening address by
Jaideep Mehta, CEO, News Corp VCCircle
10:00am - 10:50am
Panel I - Food Sector on Fire
There has been a flurry of investments in mid-sized food companies of late. General Atlantic, for instance, struck its first-ever control deal in India pushing funding in the sector to an all-time high in the past four years. What is driving the action and what kind of businesses are getting funded?
Hemendra Mathur, Venture Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund
Puneet Kumar, Vice President, Nexus Venture Partners
Vaidhehi Ravindran, Vice President, Aspada Investment Advisors
S Venkatraman, Partner and Director, Rabo Equity Advisors (Moderator)
10:50am - 11:15am
Fireside Chat on -The recipe for brand building
Home-grown brands such as Raw Pressery and Epigamia have created space for themselves in a market that was ruled by companies that had legacy, deep pockets and brands with high recall holding them up. How did they make way for themselves in a cluttered and competitive market?
Shripad Nadkarni, Founder Director, Fingerlix(Interviewee)
Archna Shukla, Editor in Chief, News Corp VCCircle (Interviewer)
11:15am - 11:30am
Networking Break
11:30am - 12:15pm
Panel II - Food-retail – What’s cooking?
Food retail, including both the offline organized chains as well as online grocery, is in the thick of action in India. While seasoned investors are chasing opportunities in homegrown online grocery startups, offline formats are being vied, too. World’s largest retailer Amazon, for instance, recently bought out Aditya Birla Group owned retail chain More, along with a PE firm. Is retail the next holy grail in the food sector?
Ebrahim Akbari, Co founder, Doodhwala
Amuleek Singh, Founder & CEO, Chai Point
Kuchibotla Srinivas, Partner – Food, Agri & Retail Practice,KPMG
Bruhadeeswaran R, Assistant Editor, News Corp VCCircle (Moderator)
12:15pm - 01:00pm
Panel III – The rise of the specialist
The industry has seen a rise in the launch of companies with very specialised offerings. From only organic food products to beverages targetting only women to snacks only for children, there are several companies that have segmented their offerings and are targetting a niche set of customers. Interestingly, several such companies have raised investments from seasoned investors. While a differentiated positioning in a crowded and generic market like food is understandable, it does beg the question -- is the market big enough for such thin segmentation?
Prasoon Gupta, Co founder and Director, Sattviko
Pawan Raj Kumar, CEO, Supa Star Foods
Vijay Uttarwar, CEO, Naturell(India)
Hitesh Ahuja, Founder and CEO, Yumlane
Ranjani R, Associate Editor, News Corp VCCircle (Moderator)
01:00pm - 1:45pm
Panel IV – Lending a hand to agriculture
Entrepreneurs and investors have woken up to the opportunity to build and disrupt the farm sector for better productivity and the well-being of the farmer. What kind of experiments are brewing on the farm land and what value proposition do investors see?
Amardeep Sibia, CEO, SatSure Ltd
Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO, CropIn Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd.
Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, CEO, AgNext Technologies
Vasudevan Chinnathambi, Co founder, Ninjacart
Jinesh Shah, Founding Partner, Omnivore Partners
Anurag Malempati, Founder & CEO, Leap India Food & Logistics
Gaurav Kapoor, Senior Private Sector Development Adviser, UK Department for International Development (DFID) (Moderator)
01:45pm - 2:45pm
Networking Lunch
02:45pm - 03:15pm
Showcase Session
We bring our Showcase session, a curated platform that brings a set of handpicked innovative food & agri startups to make an elevator pitch to select jury of angel investors, houseful of VCs & fellow entrepreneurs. This is also an opportunity to early stage, pre-revenue, startups as well to grab investor attention.
Jury Members:
Hemendra Mathur, Venture Partner, Bharat Innovation Fund
Shruti Srivastava, Principal, Omnivore Partners
03:15pm
End of Conference
VCC Events opens up the avenues for participation. Join hands to be a part of India’s largest gathering of alternative investments leaders, industry stakeholders and Asia’s influential limited partners, general partners and marquee advisors. Your chance to actively participate and augment yourself as thought leaders.
Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai
Date: November 22, 2018
Venue: Hotel Four Seasons, Mumbai
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