Omidyar Network and Avaana Capital supports pre-series funding
FarMart, a mobile-based, agritech platform, has raised Rs.17.7 crore or US$2.4 million in a pre-series A funding round, will focus on product development, user base expansion and scaling its market linkage capabilities.
The funding round was led by Omidyar Network India and Avaana Capital while existing investors Indian Angel Network and LetsVenture also participated, FarMart said in a release on 27 May 2021 from its headquarters in Gurugram.
FarMart, founded by Alekh Sanghera and Mehtab Singh Hans, operates India’s first micro-SaaS led agritech platform. The platform helps agri-retailers serve farmers better by providing them with access to information, market linkages and input. FarMart aims to make the entire value chain – from input to output – streamlined and remunerative. It does this by leveraging technology, the trust of the agri business communities, and optimizing under-utilized assets of the retailers.
Retailers can use the platform to digitize their workflow and grow their businesses by offering agri-marketing to farmers. Within 9 months of launch, FarMart has onboarded 10,000 retailers and has access to 400,000+ farmers across 15 states in the country. End buyers also use the platform to source the best produce at the right price from farmers directly without involving multiple intermediaries. FarMart, thus coordinates pricing, logistics, quality control and payment via its platform.
“Through our product-first approach, we have been able to create a scalable, trust-based distribution network that helps us gain access to farmers at the first mile. With this funding round, we seek to further our mission to become the largest online platform connecting food businesses with over 10 million farmers through our nationwide retailer network by 2025,” explained Co-founder and CEO, Alekh Sanghera.
“Over the last year we have made significant strides in developing our platform and growing our trust in the agribusiness community. Madhav Tandan and Shruti Srivastava have both been incredible thought partners to us in our journey and we are honored to strengthen and formalize our relationship with Omidyar Network India and Avaana Capital. With such valued partners at this early stage, we are well on our way to move the needle in Indian agriculture,” Mehtab Hans, the Co-founder of FarMart.
“With its innovative tech-led, merchant-centric and distribution-first model, Farmart has set out on a journey to create an agri platform that helps increase value realization and income for farmers. They enable better access to markets, aggregate produce using existing infrastructure and are using data at the core of their decision-making. Alekh and Mehtab’s vision of solving for the needs of this massive and underserved market comprising ~1M merchants and ~140M farmers, resonates strongly with our investment thesis for the Next Half Billion and we’re excited to partner with them,” Madhav Tandan, Director, Omidyar Network India.
“Alekh and Mehtab have created a business model that encapsulates our view on how technology can connect various stakeholders to improve realizations for farmers and offerings for buyers, while also building a scalable, defensible, and profitable business model. We are encouraged by the traction of their micro-entrepreneur-led market linkage platform and are confident in the team’s ability and knowledge to take this business to great heights as well as deliver a positive impact to the supply chain for semi-perishable agri produce.” Shruti Srivastava, Principal, Investments, Avaana Capital
FarMart is a B2B agritech platform that helps businesses easily source high quality produce at reasonable prices. Leveraging its tech platform, trust of the agribusiness communities and employing under-utilized assets of retailers, FarMart makes the entire value chain streamlined, transparent and financially rewarding for farmers and businesses.
Omidyar Network India invests in bold entrepreneurs who help create a meaningful life for every Indian, especially the hundreds of millions of Indians in low-income and lower-middle-income populations, ranging from the poorest among us to the existing middle class. To drive empowerment and social impact at scale, we work with entrepreneurs in the private, nonprofit and public sectors, who are tackling India’s hardest and most chronic problems. We make equity investments in early-stage enterprises and provide grants to nonprofits in the areas of Digital Society, Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. Omidyar Network India is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations and initiatives, supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.
“Avaana Capital was founded in early 2018 and provides capital and support to innovative businesses that provide financial inclusion, access to affordable goods and services, and market linkages to “Middle India”. The Fund believes that investing in and helping scale such businesses creates attractive returns, as well as developmental impact.” #technology #agriculture #startup #banking #investment /fiinews.com
