[Funding alert] B2B agritech startup TechnifyBiz raises $2M from Omnivore, Razorpay founders, others

Delhi-based food commodity marketplace Farmley (TechnifyBiz) has raised more than $2 million (Rs 14 crore) in seed funding from Omnivore and the Insitor Impact Asia Fund.

Razorpay co-founders Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur were also a part of the round, the startup announced in a statement.

Commenting on the investment, Jinesh Shah, Managing Partner of Omnivore, said,

“We are very inspired by TechnifyBiz’s supplier focus, which is creating tremendous value for farmer groups and SME food processors. Omnivore is excited to support the TechnifyBiz team as they organise value chains in their targeted food commodities.”

The startup's existing investors include angels R Narayan, Founder of Power2SME, and Rajneesh Gupta, Director at Aakash Namkeen (wholesaler of snacks and savouries). It is also backed by agritech incubator Indigram Labs.

ALSO READ

This agritech startup helps commodity farmers grow profits by 200 pc, and directly sell to Reliance, BigBasket, Grofers, others

Abhijit Nath, Country Manager of the Insitor Impact Asia Fund, said on the investment,

“We believe TechnifyBiz has the ability to create a scalable, high impact business that is focused on reducing inefficiencies in the agricultural supply chain. Insitor is very excited to partner in this journey, in what will be our first agricultural investment in India.”

The startup, however, did not reveal where it plans to deploy the fresh capital.

Founded by IIT grads Akash Sharma and Abhishek Agarwal in 2017, TechnifyBiz is a B2B marketplace that organises the non-perishable food commodity market by improving farmers’ linkages with food processors and wholesale buyers.

“There is massive unmet demand for high-quality food commodities in India, which TechnifyBiz is helping to bridge by developing backend supply infrastructure and technology-enabled services,” said Akash Sharma, Co-Founder and CEO of TechnifyBiz.

In about three years, the startup claims to have increased farmers’ profit margins by 200 percent. At present, the platform offers 10 commodities: makhana, cashews, almonds, raisins, walnut, quinoa, chia, pista, sunflower seed, and watermelon seeds. 

In an earlier interaction with YourStory, the startup had revealed plans to expand to 50 to 60 commodities in the next two years and work with about 100,000 suppliers.

Its current customers include food industry heavyweights like Big Bazaar, Metro Cash & Carry, Reliance Retail, Haldirams, Grofers, Bigbasket, and Flipkart.

Farmers can sell directly, in bulk, to these companies, and earn the best profit margins on every commodity.

TechnifyBiz claims a monthly revenue run rate of Rs 10 crore and expects it to cross Rs 75 crore by March 2020. This is a 5X growth from Rs 5 crore at the end of March 2019.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

ALSO READ

How DST-backed agritech incubator Indigram Labs is ushering in a new green revolution