Why India Has No Agritech Unicorns; And Why That's About to Change | Mark Kahn (Omnivore)

Mark Kahn is the Managing Partner of Omnivore, India's pioneering agriculture and rural economy venture capital fund with over $325 million in assets under management. Since 2011, Omnivore has backed 50+ startups including DeHaat (India's near-unicorn agritech platform), Pixxel (space tech), Ecozen (climate hardware), and dozens of companies transforming India's 600 million rural population.

In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Kahn unpacks his contrarian thesis on smallholder farming, explains why "B2B SaaS is fucked by AI," dissects the horseshoe politics blocking GM crops in India, and reveals why Trump's 50% tariffs and Modi's dairy farmers are on a collision course. From his operational years at Godrej Agrovet to building India's leading agritech VC, Mark offers a masterclass in sectoral investing, the realities of raising from DFIs, and why India's bioeconomy could hit $300 billion by 2030 - if entrepreneurs stop becoming software engineers and start doing actual biology.

What You'll Learn:

👉Why Mark Kahn believes India will never have a unicorn agritech company by traditional metrics, and why he's okay with that

👉How Omnivore's portfolio companies like DeHaat, Arya.ag, and Captain Fresh are approaching profitability and IPOs while others like WayCool imploded

👉The "Kirana shop analogy" - why Indian smallholder farmers are more productive than you think and will beat US industrial agriculture

👉Why both the Indian left and right agree on blocking GM crops (horseshoe theory), and how Indians have been eating GM food derivatives for 20 years without knowing it

👉Mark Kahn's provocative take on US-India trade negotiations: why dairy imports should be blocked but feed ingredients should be welcomed

👉The shocking reality that India's biotech sector has produced zero new billionaires in 20+ years, and what the $300 billion bioeconomy opportunity requires

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Mark Kahn's Journey to Omnivore VC

01:18 - Why Agritech Over B2B SaaS

02:52 - India's Agritech Unicorn Problem Explained

06:37 - Bharat Economy Beyond Agriculture

09:49 - India's Agricultural Future Vision

13:27 - GM Crops Controversy and Yield Gaps

18:26 - The GM Foods Paradox

23:21 - Omnivore's Investment Thesis and Portfolio

30:35 - Fund Size and LP Strategy

31:45 - Origin Story of Omnivore

40:06 - Early Days at Omnivore

50:12 - Agriculture Protection and Trade Policy

52:25 - US-India Agricultural Trade War

57:52 - Why India's Farm Policy is Soviet

1:01:08 - The Farm Reforms That Failed

1:06:13 - AgriStack Digital Infrastructure

1:09:04 - Smallholder Farmers vs Industrial Agriculture

1:13:01 - Zero Percent Probability of Reform

1:14:13 - India Through an Immigrant's Eyes

1:20:31 - Advice for Founders Raising VC

1:26:56 - The Bioeconomy Opportunity

#MarkKahn #OmnivoreVC #AgritechIndia #VentureCapitalIndia #IndianAgriculture #AgritechUnicorn #DeHaat #RuralIndia #BharatEconomy #GMCrops #AgriculturePolicy #USIndiaTrade #TrumpTariffs #BiotechIndia #SpaceTech #Pixxel #Climatetech #ImpactInvesting #AgricultureVC #StartupFunding #IndiaVC #FarmersIndia #SmallholderFarming #AgricultureReform #FoodSecurity #SustainableAgriculture #AgriFintech #RuralFintech #DigitalAgriculture #AgriStack

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel