Ruraltech Startup FAARMS Raises $10 Mn To Expand To 100K Villages in 2022

Ruraltech startup, FAARMS has raised $10 Mn in the latest funding round led by  Dr. Cornelius Boersch from Conny & Co. and Koh Boon Hwee. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma from Venture Catalyst and Ramit Mittal from Bharti Family also participated in the round. 

FAARMS will use the fresh capital to expand its geographical footprint in India, scale up supply and distribution channels and hire talent. It will also invest in developing technological infrastructure. 

Commenting on the fundraising, Taranbir Singh and Alok Duggal, cofounders of FAARMS, stated, “The funds will mostly be used to expand our presence to 12 states across India. We currently operate in over 50,000 villages and plan to expand to 100,000 villages by the end of 2022. These funds will also be used to catalyze our expansion to newer regions and deepening across existing markets”. 

Founded by Taranbir Singh and Alok Duggal, the Bengaluru-based startup provides end-to-end solutions for rural households, right from door-step delivery of farming inputs to insurance to banking services, among others. 

FAARMS has also partnered with Bharat BillPay to help Indian farmers make recurring payments such as water, gas, and electricity bills, loan repayments, and insurance premium payments, according to the statement. 

Through the new association, FAARMS additionally helps farmers buy products including seeds, cattle feeds, and farming equipment. Later, it delivers those products to customers’ doorstep via its logistics network.

Singh and Duggal added, “Our goal is to create the ultimate digital platform enabling seamless, profitable and effective functioning of rural households so as to improve their incomes and standards of living.” 

FAARMS’ mobile-based app is available in vernacular languages. The app helps farmers learn best farming techniques and latest technologies in the agriculture sector. It further assists them in securing financial insurance for their families and cattle. 

In 2021, it secured $2 Mn in a seed funding round from Koh Boon Hwee and Dr Cornelius Boersch from Conny & Co. 

It competes with other rural tech startups such as Hesa, Frontier Markets and 1Bridge. 

As compared to urban cities, India’s rural demographic invariably has fewer facilities. As a result, digitalisation has been swiftly adopted by the rural population since its intervention has eased their lives. According to Mckinsey’s report, India’s rural population will account for 63% of the market share in the country by 2025. 

While, another report by Accenture states that rural customers have turned aspirational, are embracing brands, and seek to stay connected. To enable this, a handful of startups such as C4D Partners-backed 1Bridge and Venture Catalysts-backed Hesa are working to leverage the rural ecosystem of the country.

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