Faarms, an agritech startup, has raised $10 million (nearly Rs 80 crore) in a latest round of funding from a clutch of individual investors.
The Bengaluru-based startup has raised the funding from serial entrepreneur Dr Cornelius Boersch and Singaporean angel investor Koh Boon Hwee.
Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, co-founder of Venture Catalyst and 9 Unicorns and Ramit Mittal of Bharti Family among others also participated in this round.
The funds will be used to expand the startup’s geographical footprint, boost supply and distribution channels and for hiring and upgrading technology infrastructure.
The startup was launched in early 2020 by Taranbir Singh and Alok Duggal. It aims to provide an end-to-end solution for rural households, ranging from last-mile door-step delivery of farming inputs, advisory, insurance, and banking services.
“The funds will mostly be used to expand our presence to 12 states across the country. We currently operate in over 50,000 villages in some of the most important agricultural states, and plan to expand to 100,000 villages by the end of 2022,” the co-founders said.
Faarms recently partnered with Bharat BillPay to create a marketplace for farmers across India to manage recurring payments such as water, gas, and electricity bills, loan repayments, insurance premium payments, and secure products such as seeds, cattle feeds, and farming equipment delivered directly to their doorstep.
"I have invested in more than 400 start-ups globally, but I have never seen a company with a higher market potential than FAARMS. It comes at a perfect time. The Indian agricultural market is a blue ocean and ripe for disruption,” said Dr Cornelius (Boersch, one of the investors.
The startup raised $2 million last year from Dr Boersch and Koh Boon Hwee last year.
The broader agritech segment in India has attracted significant investor interest in the past years. According to a Bain report last year, private equity and venture capital investments in the agritech segment increased to $329 million in 2020 from $296 million in 2019. The segment will see significant investment and is projected to grow to a $30–$35 billion market by 2025, it said.
Some of the significantly funded startups in this space include Ninjacart, DeHaat, WayCool and AgroStar. Earlier this week, Vegrow, a business to business (B2B) agritech platform for fruit and vegetables, has announced to have raised $25 million in its Series B funding round led by Prosus Ventures((formerly known as Naseprs Ventures).
