Five Start-Ups That Make a Difference

Crofarm

From 2016

Crofarm has built a digitised agri-supply chain for fruits and vegetables that is efficient and has zero wastage, and increases the incomes of both farmers and neighbourhood retailers.

More than 200 retailers and thousands of farmers are on its platform, and it handles over 10 tonnes of fresh produce daily. Farmers on the platform can earn 20 per cent more than they would otherwise. Similarly, retailers save the effort of going to the mandi and are able to earn more by buying fresh farm produce from Crofarm.

Awards/Recognition

Winners at Yourstory’s Techsparks event in Bengaluru, in October 2016

Ekgaon Technologies

From 2002

The ekgaon.com online platform helps farmers sell their produce under the retail brand ‘Ekgaon’. The platforms sells over 180 different natural, healthy and organic products such as rice, pulses, spices and sugar sourced from more than 50 farmer producer organisations across the country. The farmers’ income, as a result of both the mobile-based advisory services as well as revenues from the marketplace, has seen an average increase of ₹8,500 per month, or 67 per cent - as seen from an impact study carried out among 10,000 farmers.

Awards/Recognition

Winner of Nasscom Social Innovation Honours 2010

Dell Small Business Excellence Award 2009

Gramophone

From 2016

Gramophone helps farmers by getting them right products and local knowledge. It is a one-stop shop for all agri inputs — seeds, crop nutrition, crop protection and agri hardware. It also provides advisory services on crops, weather-related information and mandi prices. One farmer who opted for Gramophone’s services is reported to have achieved 40 per cent higher garlic production this year over the previous year. The company also provides farm management solutions by facilitating soil-testing and crop nutrition management.

Awards/Recognition

Krishi Bhushan Award from the Asian Consortium of Farmer Producer Companies (MP Government)

Kheyti

From 2015

Kheyti helps small farmers battle income variability through a “Greenhouse-in-a-Box” (GIB), a low-cost, modular greenhouse, integrated with end-to-end support. The GIB fits in 2 per cent of their land, protects crops from climate risk and grows seven times more food using 90 per cent less water. It works with partners to offer farmers financing, inputs, training, advisory and market services, creating a seamless path out of poverty. Kheyti’s farmers are earning incomes of ₹5,000 or more each month.

Awards/Recognition

Social Entrepreneurship Award from Kellogg and Columbia

Best startup of the State 2017 from Govt of Telangana

SatSure

From 2017

SatSure simplifies farmer’s complex decisions through data analytics. It helps them in crop-health monitoring and does soil nutrients analysis and fertiliser recommendation. The company’s SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform provides near-real time data to state/central governments and insurance companies for evaluation of crop-failure risk and assessing the creditworthiness of the farmers. SatSure has successfully completed a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh for doubling farmers’ income.

Awards/Recognition

Andhra Pradesh AgTech Summit Award

National Agripreneur Award

SSPI Better Satellite World Award