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Agriculture finance startup Samunnati has raised $20 million (approx. Rs 146 crore) in debt from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to expand its lending activities in the second half of the ongoing fiscal year.

The newly raised capital will help the company to expand its financing and technical assistance to low-income farmers and enterprises throughout the agricultural value chain in India, Samunnati and DFC said in a joined statement shared with ET.

Setuka Partners LLP was the exclusive adviser to this transaction.

Chennai-based Samunnati, which disbursed over Rs 4,000 crore worth of loans since being founded in 2014, said that the debt capital would primarily be used to sanction loans to Farmer Producers’ Organizations and small and medium agribusinesses.

“Samunnati is working with many FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 19 states in India,” said Anilkumar SG, founder and CEO, Samunnati.

“We are delighted to partner with DFC as this will help us further offer customised financial solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the agri-value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium,” Anilkumar said.

The startup counts Elevar, Accel, ResponsAbility and Nuveen among its investors. The latest equity round involved the non-bank lender raising $55 million (approx. Rs 390 crore) in May 2019 in Series D funding from US-based Nuveen which is the investment arm of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA).

“The DFC is proud to work together with the experienced team at Samunnati and we look forward to collaborating in scaling up the breadth and depth of the company’s operations across India,” said Ajay Rao, Managing Director – South Asia Region, DFC.

Samunnati, which is focused on agriculture financing, has expanded its presence to over 112 districts in the country where it serves collectively about 4 million small farmers in partnerships with community associations and agri-enterprises.