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KiVi, an agri fintech start-up operated by Agrosperity Tech Solutions, enabling credit and commerce to the farm-gate ecosystem, has attracted the highest commitment from investors at the ‘UmagineChennai Pitch To Win’ contest organised by the IIT Madras Research Park and IITM Incubation Cell.
The contest saw 130 start-ups from various sectors vie for investor commitment. With India’s middle-class projected to grow to one billion by 2047, the country’s agri sector requires significant transformation to serve the needs of the emerging demographic, a spokesman for the start-up said.
Farm gate credit, commerce
KiVi’s mission is to enable credit and commerce to the farm-gate ecosystem consisting of the farmer, input retailer, output aggregator and village entrepreneur. Till date, it has enabled two loan products and is operational in Tamil Nadu and Bihar. Over the next 12 months, it plans to serve 6,500 farmers and 400 micro entrepreneurs, the spokesman added.
According to Joby CO, Co-Founder and CEO, KiVi is atechnology platform designed for farming as a business enterprise, and will help farmers access services such as agronomy, input supply, buyer aggregation, financial services, logistics, quality management, risk management and warehousing, among others.
Leadership team
KiVi had announced the launch of farm loans on its platform in August last year, offering small holders timely, affordable and structured credit from lending institutions. Apart from Joby, who has over two decades of experience in rural credit and agri business, other co-founders are Padmakumar K (Chief Product Officer); Salil Nair (Chief Technology Officer); Rajendra Kumar (Chief Business Officer); and Manoj Ramaswamy (Chief Financial Officer).
The start-up partners with financial institutions and technology providers, and employs a unique underwriting method that considers the farmer’s credit profile, farming history, crop characteristics, commodity price trends and weather pattern, the spokesman added.
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