Shilpa Shetty Kundra Backs Agritech Startup KisanKonnect

Mumbai-based omnichannel farm-to-fork startup KisanKonnect has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra.

Founded in 2020 during the pandemic by Vivek Nirmal and Nidhi Nirmal, KisanKonnect sources food directly from its network of 5,000 farmers through its village-level collection centres and delivers it to consumers in Mumbai and Pune with no middlemen involved in the supply chain. 

“Not only are they (Kisankonnect founders) 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,” said Kundra talking about the reason behind her investment in the startup.

The startup offers its services to customers directly through its mobile app and farm stores, which is quite unlike the other players in this space, such as DeHaat, Ninjacart, and WayCool.

Further, the startup manages around 1.75 Lakh acres of cultivated land, and offers a wide range of more than 200 types of vegetables and 100 types of fruits online. It claims to be delivering approximately 1.5 Lakh boxes of vegetables and fruits every month. 

“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 priorities. We see Kisankonnect is striking a chord with the majority of planned buyers, who value good quality over quick delivery,” said KisanKonnect founder Vivek Nirmal.

The agritech startup also claims to have clocked INR 120 Cr in Annualised Revenue Run Rate (ARR) as of now and servicing more than 1 Lakh consumers in Pune and Mumbai.

KisanKonnect plans to tap a huge potential in the agritech sector, which is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 50% by 2027 to become a $34 Bn market by that year, as suggested in an Avendus Capital report.

“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 smallholder farmers and fresh and nutritious food for the consumer,” added Nirmal.

Meanwhile, Kundra’s investment in KisanKonnect follows her recent fund infusion of INR 2.25 Cr in the ready-to-cook D2C brand WickedGud. Prior to this, she also invested an undisclosed amount in women-focussed upskilling platform Hunar Online.

Last year, the actor also increased her stake in IPO-bound D2C unicorn Mamaearth.