India’s agritech sector is expected to grow in gauge and have 8-10 startups with more than $1 billion in value in next five years, according to a new report by Avendus Capital.

According to Agritech-Leading next decade’s tech-first value creation two to three companies will become earnest of introducing initial public offerings (IPOs) over the next three to five years.

According to reports, business-to-business (B2B) firms, Absolute Foods, Arya.Ag, Dehaat, Farmart, Captain Fresh, Vegrow, Bighaat, Agnext and Bijak and business-to-consumer (B2C) firms such as Country Delight and Licious.

Pankaj Naik, co-head, digital and technology investment banking at Avendus says, “Farming in India is characterized by relatively smaller farm sizes and lower yields per hectare vis-à-vis global counterparts. This, coupled with fragmented, inefficient supply chains and unorganized retail, lends a uniqueness to the market.”

“These unique market characteristics have led Indian agritech players to build ‘India-first’ business models with a larger focus and scale on the output market linkage side. The market is also seeing ‘India-first’ technology innovations in precision agriculture, quality assessment and digital traceability that can each be a large global opportunity,” Naik adds.

According to reports, meanwhile in 2010, about three billion of funding has gone into support more than 1,500 agritech companies in India, compared to the $45 billion raised globally by such firms. Around 17 Indian startups have spanned the critical mass of $100 million in annual revenues.

Karan Sharma, co-head, digital and technology investment banking at Avendus says, “This, given the sheer scale of the agriculture economy in India, will create tremendous stakeholder value. The IPO timelines for most of the companies are 3-5 years away. The precursor would be active participation of private growth investors in the sector, replicating the participation seen in consumer tech-focused companies over the last five years.”