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Santosh Deoram Watpade
CFO of Sahyadri Farms
Sahyadri Farms
Private Sector & Development author
Santosh Deoram Watpade, CFO of Sahyadri Farms, is a seasoned finance leader with over 16 years of expertise in corporate finance, taxation, treasury, ERP implementation, and strategic business planning. At Sahyadri, he secured a €15 million loan from FMO, and has led corporate restructuring.
He has successfully raised 310 crores (around€35 million) in Series A funding and a another 390 crores (around €44 million) in Series B funding, making Sahyadri the first farmer-owned entity in India to secure major foreign direct investment rounds. Recently he was honoured with ET CFO’s Emerging CFO of the Year, from The Economic Times CFO Awards, for his trailblazing contributions to agri-finance innovation
Sahyadri Farms
In the Indian state of Maharashtra, the Sahyadri Farms (a farmer collective owned company) – supported by Proparco – has managed to build a network of 50,000 smallholder farmers and become the country’s largest exporter of fresh grapes and other crops. It harnnesses technological innovation and agricultural research to provide access to varieties that are more resistant to climate change.