[Funding alert] Agritech startup Faarms raises $2M in seed round backed by global investors

Factory to farms agritech startup Faarms on Thursday said that it has raised $2 million in its seed round backed by global investors.

The round was led by Koh Boon Hwee and Dr Cornelius ( Conny ) Boersch, among other angel investors.

“The fund we have raised will be used to expand our footprint in north-eastern, central, and southern states of India. Besides, we are looking to add new product segments and services for the farmers as well, deploying advance technologies for seamless functioning of the multilingual platform making it easier for the farmers to access information,” says Alok Duggal, COO and Co-founder at Faarms.

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He further added, “ We are thankful to all our investors who believed in our work and came forward to support us in building a company that is truly going to shape the farming ecosystem of our country.”

Founded in January 2020, Faarms has been modelled as the Amazon for the farming community — as a one-stop online shop to access at the click of a button a huge inventory of certified products to be delivered to the farmer's doorstep with cashless payment options. 

Speaking about the platform, veteran rural banker Taranbir Singh, Co-founder and CEO Faarms, who was heading Rural Banking Division at Yes Bank, prior to joining Faarms stated,

“Faarms was conceived with the aim to build an e-marketplace for the farming community of our country with the idea to help a kisaan purchase inputs from some of the best-known brands in the world and obtain crop-related advice at the click of a button, sitting at home. We want to bring financial inclusion and spread digital literacy to rural India by helping farmers adopt digital payment with the help of on-ground staff."

The absolute interiors of the farming belt of India struggle with even the most basic of requirements like seeds, fertilisers, cattle feed, and of course, the resources to buy them and carry the heavy loads back.

Faarms was introduced as the single point platform to address all these challenges. 

Commenting on the investment, Singaporean angel investor Koh Boon Hwee added,

“As active investors in SMEs working at the grassroot level, we are truly pleased to see the way Faarms is able to reach out to a large number of farmers during the pandemic covering a large geography within a short duration. We are confident Faarms will disrupt the way farmers source their farm products and acquire knowledge.”