Accel, Qualcomm join $35m round for India's Ninjacart

Other investors include Syngenta Ventures, Neoplux, HR Capital, Trifecta Capital, and Mistletoe. The capital will be used for product R&D, supply chain infrastructure improvements, and an expansion that would extend the company’s current footprint of about 10 cities to more than 200.

Founded in 2015, Ninjacart claims to be India’s largest agricultural marketing platform, connecting vegetable and fruit farmers directly with merchants. The idea is to help farmers improve their economics and reach deals that are consistent with demand, while also helping retailers source directly from growers at more competitive prices.

“The team has managed to get into a clear leadership position in that ecosystem, especially around south Indian cities,” said Subrata Mitra, a partner at Accel India. “With the current round of financing, we expect them to continue to scale rapidly, enter new cities, and enable direct relationships with farmers and shop owners across even more categories.”

The agriculture technology services market is expected to be worth $4.5 billion by 2020 and has proven a popular VC investment area in India due to the fragmented nature of the domestic farming industry. Recent activity in this space includes the launch of a $100 million agtech fund by Sathguru Management Consultants and a similar $9 million vehicle from the government.

Last month, CropIn, an Indian developer of cloud technology for agricultural applications raised $8 million from a group of VCs. Ninjacart’s more direct competitors include farm-to-shop supply chain company Crofarm, which has reportedly raised some early-stage VC funding, and IvyCap Ventures-backed Reuters Market Light, which was recently renamed FarmBee.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Support services
• Technology
• Early-stage
• India
• Agriculture