Building India's Global Agrochemicals Platform

Siddharth Gupta, Co-Founder, Atomgrid

© Atomgrid

Atomgrid is a speciality chemicals platform built on a simple bet: put customer access before manufacturing. Co-founded by Siddharth Gupta and Lakshit Bansal, the company is scaling a “downstream-first” agrochemicals business towards global category leadership.

CHEManager: What inspired you and Lakshit to launch Atomgrid, and what gap in the speciality chemicals market did you set out to fill?

Siddharth Gupta: We started exploring the speciality chemicals space in 2020, drawn in by the strong public market performance of listed Indian players like PI Industries and Neuland Labs. Coming from investment banking and startup backgrounds, we saw that mature, listed companies pointed to a scalable opportunity – but with two clear gaps: most Indian speciality chemical firms had limited export exposure, and existing B2B sourcing and manufacturing businesses lacked strong margins. We wanted to build something with a large global market opportunity, strong margin potential, and a clear focus on innovation.

How did you get into agrochemicals?

S. Gupta: Dyes and textile chemicals were our first bet, but after six to eight months we realised the segment lacked innovation and long-term differentiation – it was largely commoditised. Agrochemicals looked different: continuous innovation, new molecules, and shifting pest resistance mean the category never stands still. That kind of innovation-led dynamic is what we believe creates sustainable, defensible businesses, and it became a core principle for Atomgrid.