FarMart, an agritech startup that operates as a SaaS-led food supply platform, has raised $32 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst and joined by existing investors Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India. Elluminate Capital served as FarMart's sole financial advisor on the transaction.
This new round of funding will be used to expand FarMart's digital distribution network across India and into export markets. The company also intends to make significant investments in R&D, automation, and technology.
This announcement comes six months after FarMart's $10 million Series A by Matrix, Avaana, and Omidyar in October 2021, bringing the total capital raised to $48 million.
"At the intersection of data, hyperlocal serviceability, and underutilized assets, we created a retailer-centric solution." The ambition and opportunity to build India's largest food supply platform drive the entire team. "I'd like to thank General Catalyst and our existing investors for giving us the impetus to build the world's first OS that powers food value chains," says Alekh Sanghera, CEO and Cofounder of FarMart.
"Our discussions with the FarMart team took place via Zoom. And we recognized that not only did the founders have complementary skill sets, but they were also mission-driven. The decision to make the changes was based solely on data and a desire to solve a problem, which piqued our interest,” elaborated Anand Chandrasekaran, Partner at General Catalyst.
FarMart offers a SaaS tool to 60,000 agri-retailers in the country, which serves two million farmers via its mobile app. The company has also expanded its output linkage offering, which is distributed through its app users, to over 600 districts in India, with 75,000 metric tonnes of high-quality produce sourced so far across 15 commodities.
"We knew Alekh, Mehtab, and the FarMart team had a unique distribution approach to building India's largest food sourcing SaaS platform from the moment we met them." The rapidly expanding B2B platform establishes critical links between farmers and agri-retailers, allowing millions of farmers to supply fresh produce to consumers across India, resulting in powerful, positive change for these stakeholders. "We are honoured and thrilled to be a part of the FarMart journey," said Deep Nishar, Managing Director of General Catalyst (lead investor)
To build a high growth and contribution margin profitable business, the startup uses technology and data to source at scale and use underutilized assets in the food value chain. FarMart has created a one-stop-shop for farmers to buy input and sell output in close proximity to their farms by digitizing and incentivizing the rural agri-retailer.
