Farm to retail supply-chain Crofarm secures Rs 5 Cr led by Factor[e] Ventures

Agriculture supply-chain startup, Crofarm has raised Rs 5 crore in a pre-Series A round led by Factor[e] Ventures and angel investors - Rajan Anandan, Google India MD, and Jitendra Gupta, PayU India MD among others. The round was syndicated through LetsVenture.

Crofarm is building technology-powered supply chain that supports farmers and provides businesses with the fresh produce efficiently and minimal wastage.

Currently, the company operates in Delhi (NCR). It claims to supply fruits and vegetable to about 100 retailers including Bigbazaar, Metro, Bigbasket and Grofers through its multiple distribution centres.

The company sources fresh produce from farmers across Haryana, UP, Delhi, Bengaluru and Maharashtra. Crofarm had earlier raised $1.5 million in seed round from Pravega Ventures and couple of angels.

“We are super excited to have Factor[e] as an investor, look forward to collaborating and learning from their global expertise in the sector and bringing such innovations to the Indian market”, said Varun Khurana, Co-founder and CEO of Crofarm.

Crofarm is a brainchild of serial entrepreneurs Varun Khurana and Prashant Jain. The duo previously sold MyGreenbox to Softbank-funded Grofers. Last year, they  moved on from online grocer to start Crofarm.

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Crofarm claims to minimise wastage significantly (less than 5% as compared to 50% industry average). Existing supply chains are big headache as produce spends too much time in transit, with multiple loading/unloading causing wastage, and with several intermediaries involved substantial amount of money ends up going to entities that don’t add much value.

Gurugram-based company generates revenue from the commission it receives through the sale of the produce.

“Factor[e] is excited to support this dynamic team in their mission to efficiently link farmers and markets. We believe Crofarm’s innovative approach will yield significant social and environmental impacts by reducing post-harvest losses while improving farmer incomes,” Morgan DeFoort, Managing Principal of Factor[e]’s global team.

Crofarm competes with Bengaluru-based Ninjacart, an agri-marketing B2B marketplace that connects farmers and brands to retailers. In march last year, Ninjacart had raised $3 million in its Series A round led by Accel Partners with the participation of Qualcomm Ventures, M&S Partners (Singapore) and Zop Smart.