FY2020 was a difficult financial year in India, with a slowdown in consumption growth, deteriorating public finances, and overall economic malaise. And that's before Covid-19 arrived on the scene. Total investments in Indian agrifood startups for FY2020 stood at $1.1 billion, down 56% from FY2019. Deal volume saw marginal growth with 133 deals in FY2020 compared to 125 deals in the previous year.

Downstream deals saw a decline in investment for the first time since 2013, dropping 67% year-on-year. This was reflective of a cautious approach to venture investing in general, as multiple hyper-funded startups across sectors ran into trouble on poor unit economics. On the other hand, it was a breakout year for upstream agrifood investment in India. Startups working on farm-focused and supply chain-linked solutions raised a collective $312 million across 56 deals in FY2020, pushing their share of overall agrifood funding to 42% compared to 34% in FY2019.