Unnati, a Noida-based agri-input distribution and financing startup run by Akshamaala Solutions, agreed to take over Gramophone, an Indore-based platform that sells farm inputs and agronomy advice to farmers, in a share-swap merger. Info Edge, Gramophone's largest investor, confirmed the deal in a stock exchange disclosure on Saturday, 3 January 2026, after Entrackr had reported it.
Under the arrangement, Info Edge's wholly owned investment arm, Startup Investments (Holding) Ltd (SIHL), will transfer 339,305 shares of Agstack Technologies, the company that runs Gramophone, to Unnati. The block equals a 50.94% stake on a fully diluted basis and was priced at Rs 2,702.87 a share, or Rs 91.7 crore (about $10.2 million) in total. Unnati will pay with 49,145 of its own preference shares rather than cash, giving SIHL a 15.75% fully diluted stake in Unnati. Gramophone's remaining shareholders are also due to receive Unnati shares as part of the merger.
The companies did not put a value on the whole of Gramophone. The transaction depends on definitive agreements and customary conditions and was expected to be completed within 90 days.
What Gramophone built
Gramophone was founded in 2016 by Tauseef Ahmad Khan, Nishant Vats Mahatre, Harshit Gupta and Ashish Rajan Singh. It operates an e-commerce marketplace for farmers and pairs it with agronomy services, selling both farm inputs and output products. According to Entrackr's 2021 funding report, it worked in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and in late 2020 it told Inc42 it had improved the incomes of 550,000 farmers.
Entrepreneur India reported that Gramophone had revenue of about Rs 67 crore (about $7.4 million) in the year to March 2025. The company has not published a headcount or user figures alongside the deal.
Why Unnati is buying
Unnati works further up the supply chain. It provides distribution and financing for farm inputs and reported revenue of Rs 291 crore (about $32 million) and a loss of Rs 18.4 crore (about $2 million) for the 2025 financial year, according to Entrackr. When it raised its Series A in 2021, it said it had served more than 300,000 farmers through a network of over 20,000 'uStores'.
Entrackr described the logic of the deal as joining Unnati's B2B distribution and credit network with Gramophone's farmer-facing advisory and commerce platform. Entrackr also characterised the transaction as a merger-led consolidation rather than a cash acquisition.
Unnati's founder, Amit Sinha, was previously chief operating officer of Paytm Mall. In November 2021 the Noida-based company raised a Rs 60 crore (about $8 million) Series A led by Incofin Investment Management, NabVentures and Orios, Entrackr reported.
Info Edge doubles down
For Info Edge, the deal swaps a controlling stake in a smaller agritech company for a large minority stake in the combined business. Alongside the share swap, it agreed to put Rs 35 crore (about $3.9 million) of fresh capital into Unnati by subscribing to 18,756 preference shares.
After the primary investment, Info Edge's total holding in Unnati rises to 20.53%. Once all of Gramophone's other shareholders receive their Unnati shares, that stake is expected to dilute to 18.48%.
Info Edge had previously disclosed a 39.58% holding in Gramophone. In its filing it said the jump to 50.94% reflected the valuation applied in the exit event, Entrepreneur India reported, rather than a purchase of more shares.
The founders and the funding
Info Edge backed Gramophone for years before the merger. It led a $3.5 million Series A in 2019, and in December 2020 Gramophone raised Rs 25 crore (about $3.4 million) in a round led by Bengaluru-based Siana Capital, with Info Edge, Asha Impact and Better Capital also investing, Inc42 reported. In October 2021 it raised a $10 million Series B led by Z3Partners, with Info Edge, Asha Impact and Siana Capital taking part.
Neither company disclosed what stake Gramophone's other investors will hold in Unnati after the merger.
What happens next
The merged company combines a distribution and lending business with a farmer-facing marketplace, and gives Gramophone's backers shares in a larger company instead of a cash exit. On the disclosed figures, Info Edge will hold about a fifth of Unnati.
Unnati and Gramophone did not say whether the Gramophone brand and app would continue to run separately after completion, or what roles Gramophone's founders would take in the combined company.
