AgriTech may unlock $90 billion in Southeast Asia, India offers roadmap

'India's venture and governance evolution an instructive model to unlocking opportunities'

Southeast Asia sits on one of the world’s largest untapped agricultural technology opportunities, and India’s evolution in venture capital and governance offers one of the most instructive models for unlocking it, according to a recent report by Omnivore, Beanstalk AgTech, and Briter.

 

Agriculture contributes about 15 per cent of GDP and employs up to 40 per cent of the workforce across Southeast Asia. The report, titled “The Opportunity for AgriTech Investment in Southeast Asia”, says digitalisation and agri-tech adoption could unlock more than $90 billion in annual GDP gains across the region by 2033.

 

Produced with support from FMO Ventures, IFC (World Bank Group), and Rabo Foundation, the report offers a data-driven analysis of the agricultural and agri-tech landscape across 13 markets in the region. Drawing on Omnivore’s sector expertise, it identifies four verticals with the strongest momentum — digital value chains, inclusive agri-fintech, agrifood life sciences, and sustainable consumer brands.

   

“We have spent over a decade investing in Indian agri-tech, watching the ecosystem mature through governance, exit opportunities, and the hard work of building market infrastructure,” said Mark Kahn, managing partner at Omnivore. He said Southeast Asia’s agri-tech landscape is navigating a similar journey, and India’s experience offers a “genuine roadmap”. 

 

“The fragmentation is real, but so is the opportunity to uplift agricultural production and farmer communities across the region. Patient, disciplined capital that understands local market dynamics is what moves these ecosystems forward,” Kahn said.

 

Agri-tech investment across the region peaked at more than $750 million in 2022 before falling nearly 70 per cent by 2025. The report says the region has undergone a sharp correction as investors reassess the structural realities of agricultural markets, fragmented value chains, and the challenges of scaling ventures across Southeast and South Asia (SEASA).

 

It also maps where the next investment opportunities may emerge, while challenging several assumptions that have shaped capital flows into the region. The report argues there is no unified SEASA market, notes that two-thirds of documented cross-border expansion attempts have failed, and says the most defensible opportunities are single-market plays built around the right value chain, business model, and local execution team. Premature regional expansion was cited as the cause of failure in more than 60 per cent of venture collapses between 2022 and 2025.

 

On exits, corporate acquisitions have accounted for roughly 75 per cent of liquidity events across the ecosystem since 2020, while only eight initial public offerings (IPOs) have been completed over the same period. The report points to India’s BSE SME and NSE Emerge platforms — dedicated listing routes for growth-stage ventures below traditional IPO thresholds — as models worth watching for SEASA.

 

Development finance institutions (DFIs) and impact investors have committed a combined $650 million to agrifood funds across the region and remain critical to the capital stack. But the next phase of scaling, the authors say, will require a blend of equity, credit, and concessional capital.