FarMart raises $32M (INR 244 crores) Series B led by General Catalyst to scale its SaaS-led food supply platform
New Delhi : FarMart, India’s first SaaS-led food supply platform, secures a $32M Series B round led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors, Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India. Elluminate Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to FarMart on the transaction. This new infusion of funds will fuel the growth of FarMart’s digital distribution network across India and to export markets. The company also plans to make key investments into R&D, automation and technology.
This announcement comes just 6 months after FarMart’s $10M Series A in October 2021 and brings the total capital raised to $48M (INR 366 crores). Since then, FarMart has established itself as the top agri-retailer SaaS tool in the country – with 60,000 retailers serving 2 million farmers through its mobile app. The company has also scaled its output linkage offering, distributed via its app users, to over 600 districts in India, with 75,000 metric tonnes of high-quality produce sourced till now across 15+ commodities.
FarMart’s success lies in their ability to use tech and data to source at scale and use underutilized assets in the food value chain to build a high growth and contribution margin profitable business. By digitizing and incentivizing the rural agri-retailer, FarMart has created a one-stop-hub for farmers to buy input and sell output in close proximity to their farms. This alternative, asset-light, food value chain eliminates the multiple transportation costs, spillages, and time effort involved for both the producer and the end-buyer.
“We have built a retailer-centric solution at the intersection of data, hyperlocal serviceability and underutilized assets. The entire team is driven by the ambition and opportunity to build India’s largest food supply platform. I would like to thank General Catalyst and our existing investors for providing us with the thrust to achieve our ambition of building the world’s first OS that powers food value chains.” says Alekh Sanghera, CEO and Cofounder, FarMart
“Farmers have to travel 25-30 kilometers to access a formal marketplace. Leveraging the proximity, social capital and infrastructure of these agri-retailers, we are able to source directly from farmers in a capital efficient and non-linear manner. Removing excessive intermediaries helps in providing better prices to farmers, reduces direct cost and reduces spillages/wastage up to 10-15%”, explains Mehtab Singh Hans, Cofounder, FarMart
“Since we first met Alekh, Mehtab, and the FarMart team we knew they had a unique distribution approach to building India’s largest food sourcing SaaS platform. The fast-growing B2B platform activates critical connections between farmers and agri-retailers, enabling millions of farmers to supply fresh produce to consumers all over India, creating powerful, positive change for these stakeholders. We are honored and excited to be a partner in the FarMart journey,” said Deep Nishar, Managing Director, General Catalyst (lead investor)
“FarMart’s SaaS-led approach has transformed the way in which farmers and agri-input retailers carry out their business. The business model innovation combined with Alekh & Mehtab’s on-ground execution has enabled FarMart to grow rapidly over the last 12 months while being profitable at the contribution margin level. We are super excited to continue to deepen our relationship with FarMart and welcome General Catalyst to the partnership,” said Sudipto Sannigrahi, Principal, Matrix India
“FarMart is revolutionizing the agri-tech ecosystem by enabling agri-retailers to serve farmers better and improve farmer income by providing access to information, advisory, and market linkages. Their ability to scale rapidly using technology while being capital efficient is unique and we are excited to see the key role they play in building a transparent and financially rewarding value chain for farmers and the Next Half Billion.” says Siddharth Nautiyal, Partner, Omidyar Network India.