Food supply and AgriTech is a $300 billion market in India. However the traditional approaches in AgriTech are inefficient – the value is primarily delivered offline, with large feet on the street teams and requiring high capex to build warehouses and fulfillment centers. In addition to being capital and labor intensive, the farmer, who is at the heart of this ecosystem does not experience the benefits of this technology. Enter FarMart.
Since we met Alekh Sanghera and Mehtab Hans, we have become fans of their unique approach to building the business. They are today India’s largest SaaS-led platform that makes food sourcing capital efficient and scalable by activating the networks closest to the farmers – the agri-retailers. Today, we are excited to share that GC is leading their $40M Series B financing, in what is one of General Catalyst’s largest investments into an Indian company to date. We are excited to join existing investors Avaana Capital, Matrix Partners, Omidyar Network and others in supporting the FarMart journey.
FarMart has grown quickly to $65M+ in ARR – including 11x growth in the last 6 months – through a product-first distribution approach, maintaining no inventory while developing operational rigor so their customers receive fresh quality supply. As of March 2022, the company has delivered over 75k tons of food from over 2M farmers, with very minimal capital spent to achieve this.
Alekh and Mehtab have collectively spent over 50,000 hours in AgriTech. This experience is reflected in their thoughtful and inclusive approach towards all the stakeholders – from the farmers to the agri-retailers to the ultimate buyers of the produce. By ensuring that every stakeholder receives their fair and equitable share, they have made themselves a welcome and indispensable part of the food supply chain. One example of their deep knowledge and empathy for the value chain: historically the farmers got paid weeks or months after delivery causing a constant cash crunch. FarMart uses the heft that comes with aggregating the supply to have a shorter payment cycle which it then uses to make the majority of the payment to the farmer upon delivery. The primary beneficiary of this efficiency is the often most ignored stakeholder – the farmer. They have built the largest network of agri-retailers in India with only a few thousand dollars in marketing spend – a testimony to them doing right by their partners.
FarMart aims to bring its inclusive and equitable approach to hundreds of thousands of farmers and agri-retailers across India and is well on its way to achieve over a billion dollars in food produce sales through its platform.
General Catalyst is committed to Responsible Innovation – which is about building with intention; embracing an inclusive mindset; and creating impactful outcomes. We are truly inspired by Alekh and Mehtab’s vision to transform the food supply landscape in India and build one of the nation’s important companies in the process. We wish them the best, and are thrilled to be partners in this journey.
