Shilpa Shetty Kundra invests in 'Farm-to-Fork' start-up Kisankonnect

 In a major boost to the fast growing Agri-tech landscape of Maharashtra, Shilpa Shetty-Kundra has invested an undisclosed amount in Mumbai - based Kisankonnect. Founded in 2020, Kisankonnect sources directly from its network of 5,000 members through it village level collection-centers and delivers it conveniently to consumers of Mumbai and Pune. It claims to have one of the most advanced temperature controlled and tech-enabled supply chains and a differentiated model compared to other E-commerce players in the space like Big-basket and Otipy. 

A staunch believer in fitness and good health, Shilpa has been propagating the thought of a healthy body and mind throughout. Now with this investment, she has engaged actively in contributing through one of the most important elements of fitness, ‘Fresh food’.

Speaking on the partnership, Shilpa Shetty Kundra said, “I believe in the idea of a fit and healthy India, and I personally practice and promote this thought wherever possible. I love that the founders of Kisankonnect share the same passion towards this thought. Not only are they solving the problem of safe - to - eat food, but they are also connecting thousands of farmers directly to the consumers, resonating with my thoughts about promoting health in my country, where agriculture is one of the major occupations. Hence, I have decided to partner with Kisankonnect who work on soil health, crop health and have created an amazing tech enabled supply chain. We do our every bit to protect the nutrition in the fruits and vegetables. Consumers can finally trace and trust their food source on the Kisankonnect App.  Our ‘Farm Stores’ also connect with the consumers. This is 'Aapka Apna Farmers Market’ for this vibrant India!”

Kisankonnect is among the new-age companies, which are trying to solve the problems of building an efficient supply-chain to deliver the freshest produce to consumers in the shortest time.

While there are B2B players in space like Waycool, Dehaat and Ninjakart, Kisankonnect has chosen to service directly to the customers through its Mobile App and ‘Farm-Stores’.

Vivek Nirmal, Founder of homegrown Kisankonnect said, “We are very delighted to have Shilpa partnering in our journey of providing fresh and nutritious produce to our customers. We had started as a farmer’s producer company. Our integrated model right from soil testing, plant biologicals based on ‘Regenerative Agriculture’ are helping thousands of our farmer members to nurture an active and healthy soil. Our unique model ensures better returns for small holder farmers and fresh and nutritious food for the consumer.”

Co-founder Nidhi Nirmal added, “We are proud to have the largest assortment in the FnV space and service anywhere in Mumbai and Pune within 4-6 hours of ordering. We have multiple slots from where the customers can choose for delivery or they can simply walk-in to our nearest ‘Farm Stores”. 

“We took three years to build our model patiently to build a supply-chain - first company. Working at farm level, reducing waste, building a robust last-mile and gaining excellence in customer experience have always been our priority. We see ‘Kisankonnect’ is striking a chord with the majority of planned buyers, who value good quality over a quick delivery. We are at Rs. 120 Cr ARR (Annualised Revenue Runrate) as of now and we service over one lakh consumers in Pune and Mumbai,” Vivek Nirmal said.

The Agri-tech space in the country has been witnessing a major activity. With a large TAM (Total Addressable Market) available and a huge opportunity for new business models to be built in India, it has attracted a huge interest from a lot from companies. Hopefully, this will also solve the challenges in horticulture, where farmers get much lesser realization compared to what the consumers pay, due to many intermediaries and inefficiencies in the supply-chain.

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