At the Connecting Ideas With Money session that took place on the 12th of May, 2023 founder Darpan Bendre pitched Mumbai-based Agrify Fresh – a full-stack agricultural solution focused on solving key challenges in the agriculture value chain in India.
“Despite being the second-largest producer of fresh produce in the world, India has long struggled with quality concerns, credit issues for farmers, unfair pricing, and limited tech intervention to ensure high-quality produce. Agrify aims to address these issues with its tech-stack that includes the Agrify Pragati Farmer App and TraceSure, a traceability product that gives retailers visibility about produce and analytics to drive supply chain efficiency,” says Darpan.
“Agrify is catering to major quick commerce, modern retail and HORECA chains across cities, including Star Bazaar, Reliance Retail, Instamart and Big Basket. We are also building TraceSure for B2B accounts and have a private label brand for mangoes and apples. Agrify’s goal is to build a global fresh produce brand and revolutionize Indian agriculture.”
Agrify reports that it has a base of over 6,000 farmers across three states, four Agrify Pragati collection centers, and two distribution centers in Mumbai and Hyderabad. It has a product portfolio of 15+ fruits and vegetables sourced directly from farmers. TraceSure is currently averaging more than 1000 scans per product per week with clients like Instamart and a pilot for subsidy-based financing with loans worth 2.5L being also conducted.
The market size for Agrify is significant, with a total value of domestic fresh produce trade standing at $1.5B and global trade of fresh produce standing at $150Bn. Additionally, the total value of government-backed subsidy-based financing for drip irrigation and modern equipment is $1.2B.
Agrify faces competition from companies like Vegrow, Ninjakart, Agro Star, Bharat Agri, Deep Rooted, and Jai Kisaan. However, It believes that the fragmented nature of competition is the primary reason why there hasn’t been a single unicorn in the space. Agrify’s ecosystem, which starts from the farmer and his capacity building and ends at the consumer with transparency and efficiency of the supply chain, sets it apart from the competition.
Agrify is currently raising a pre-series A round.
Team:
The co-founders Darpan, Urvish Bhaide, Siddhesh Desai are college friends from NMIMS MPSTME and they have spent months working with farmers in villages and dealing with B2B and B2C customers across India, giving them a deep understanding of the market. The team has 20 people with capabilities across Sales, Operations and Finance.
