Accel, an investor in companies like AgroStar and Samunnati, has decided to fund the startup Produze with a sum of $2.6 million. While Accel is an American venture capital firm founded in 1983, Produze is a new India-based startup. It is engaged in connecting global retailers with local farmers and agri-producers to build efficient value chains. Pratik Agarwal from Accel said, “We feel Produze technology and supply chain capabilities can help improve the selection of fresh farm produce for customers at more affordable prices while compensating the producers fairly”.
Entrepreneurs Emil Soman and Rakesh Sasidharan joined Gaurav Agrawal and Ben Mathew to launch this startup. Talking about Produze, Mathew states, “We are helping agri-producers to reliably access international markets where they can make more margins for their produce”. Before this startup, Agrawal and Mathew were colleagues at Ninjacart, a business-to-business platform associating retailers with farmers, manufacturers and brands.
India, despite being one of the largest agri-producers around the world, keeps losing on the potential for better supplies. Due to the lack of adequate logistics and linkages, the whole process of an Indian grain reaching a Bolivian plate becomes a cumbersome business. Under such conditions, along with quality degradation, there occurs a significant price inefficiency of 25-30%. Not surprisingly, the biggest losers in this process are mostly the farmers. According to Mathew, these challenges restrict farmers in India from exporting their produce.
Drawing homogeneity with “Fulfilled by Amazon”, Mathew explained that their company also acts as a digital supply chain platform providing customer acquisition and last-mile distribution. While its Dubai office is already set up, Produze plans to further expand its export and import operations in the West.
