SUMMARY
NinjaCart — a B2B fresh produce supply chain company, features on the third episode of SteppingUp, Inc42’s web series powered by Dell Small Business
The startup uses cutting-edge technology to solve logistics and supply chain issues for big retailers and stores
In 2019, NinjaCart raised investments from leading names such as Walmart, Tiger Global and more
“It’s been a crazy journey, we encountered a lot of problems and we solved every small issue we met on the way with the help of technology and right now we move at least 1,000 tonnes of vegetables and fruits across seven cities,” says Thirukumaran Nagarajan, cofounder and CEO, NinjaCart.
We live in a fast-paced world, but it’s not always possible to get the right products at the right time, without sacrificing on quality. And when it comes to food produce, the end result of low-quality food due to erratic supply takes a toll on your health. Factors such as chemical pollution and adulteration also play a role in the traditional food supply chain in India, which ultimately harms the end consumers So how can people get access to unadulterated vegetables, fruits and other fresh produce, if the supply chain itself is broken?
Enter Bengaluru-based NinjaCart, which is changing how businesses acquire fresh produce from farms and orchards. NinjaCart is leveraging cutting-edge technology to provide a solution to the typical problems of lack of transparency, damage to food and adulteration. Founded in 2015 by Nagarajan, Kartheeswaran K K, Ashutosh Vikram, Sharath Loganathan and Vasudevan Chinnathambi, NinjaCart connects farmers with businesses so that fresh and authentic produce can be sourced directly from the farm.
Starting off as a hyperlocal delivery platform, NinjaCart is now solving issues across the fragmented supply chain in India. “When we reached out to kirana stores we identified that it was extremely difficult for them to go to the market every day to buy vegetables and fruits. So we decided to do this for them. We set up a team to go and buy on behalf of these stores and deliver it to them in the morning,” adds Nagarajan.
The supply chain startup has been working diligently to solve optimisation issues through its vehicle routing system to track vehicle movement in real-time. Through an evolving farmer harvest calendar, NinjaCart helps farmers get insight into the demand in the market, so they can adjust their harvesting accordingly, and also tailor the farm production to the volume of the demand.
NinjaCart is currently operational in seven cities — Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. On the back of funding rounds from marquee investors such as Tiger Global, debt venture fund Trifecta Capital, the company is bracing for the next phase of growth. Retail giant, Walmart is also said to be eyeing a stake in NinjaCart with an investment of $50 Mn.
With the expected growth in the online grocery delivery market as well the increasing use of technology in agriculture, India’s agritech sector offers a great opportunity, especially for startups such as NinjaCart that are using technology to solve the key issues and challenges.
NinjaCart is part of the Inc42 SteppingUp Series, powered by Dell Small Business. The series that was aimed at highlighting the most disruptive businesses in the Indian ecosystem that have used technology in innovative ways to become role-models for startups. For more such updates and news, Stay Tuned to Inc42!
