BigHaat, a Bangalore-based agriculture e-commerce startup, has received investment from Ankur Capital, an early-stage VC firm which backs innovative projects in agriculture, healthcare and education.
Rema Subramanian, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Ankur Capital, said,
We are excited about technology playing a key role in improving efficiency and transparency in agri-input distribution systems for farmers and are thrilled to back a great team at BigHaat.
Bengaluru-based BigHaat was founded by a team of three — Sateesh Nukala, Sachin Nandwana and Raj Kancham in January 2015. All three founders hail from farming backgrounds with decades of experience in corporate and startup roles.
The company has introduced greater transparency in agri input consumption by connecting farmers to verified suppliers directly and reducing travel periods required to procure their desired products. It is currently working with several leading seed suppliers across India to bring their products on the BigHaat platform to provide transparent, competitive and quality services directly to farmers.
The platform also provides a wide range of agri products such as crop protection, instruments, accessories etc; services and solutions to serve end-to-end agri community needs. It has partnered with multiple brands like Dupont, Monsanto, Indus, Mahyco, UPL, among others.
As per the company, the Agri-input market in India is worth over ₹60,000 crores or $10 billion but is captive to the whims of the distribution network with even the largest players not able to reach the farmer directly. Having served over 50,000 farmers across India, BigHaat claims to be India’s largest “Multi-brand agri e-store”.
Ankur Capital has been focused on investing in agri-businesses, healthcare, and education. In November this year, the VC firm invested in an innovative cold chain company named TESSOL.
Previous investments of the firm include Cropin (an Agri bigdata startup), Suma Agro (a soil nutrient and conditioner), Skillveri (a simulator based skill development device manufacturer), Karma Healthcare (an e-health startup) and ERC Eyecare (an Northeast based eyecare startup).
