Agritech startup Farmers Fresh Zone has raised Rs 3.5 crore led through IAN Fund. With this round, Farmers Fresh Zone’s universal fundraising has crossed Rs 6.5 crore.
The Kerala-based startup goals to liberate access to safe-to-eat, pesticide-free fruits, and veggies directly sourced from farmers. The startup has so far related over 1,500 farmers to city customers thru its omnichannel presence.
Padmaja Ruparel, Founding Partner, IAN Fund, said,
“Kerala’s startup ecosystem is truly thriving, thanks to the efforts of Kerala Startup Mission in the state. Farmers FZ is an example of how India agriculture is innovating and enabling farmers to sell pesticide-free products to customers, at a fair price.”
Coming from an agricultural family, Pradeep PS, Founder and CEO of Farmers Fresh Zone, realised the want for a market for farmers to promote their agriculture produce directly to the customers. This induced a software program engineer to show into an agri entrepreneur to set up Farmers Fresh Zone in 2015.
The startup is continuously running to offer enhanced consumer experience, constructing contemporary solutions to enhance supply chain efficiency, and collects information to examine yield prediction and income calculation.
Pradeep PS, Founder and CEO of Farmers Fresh Zone, said,
“The Indian fruits and vegetable sector is valued at $100 billion, of which a staggering 96 percent is fragmented and disorganised. In 2014, the organic food market was valued at $0.36 billion and the market has been growing at a CAGR of 25 percent. The pesticide-free, scientifically grown safe-to-eat fruits and vegetable market, is much larger than the organic segment. That’s exactly where Farmers Fresh Zone is playing a role.”
“Having received the funding from IAN, we are looking to invest in expanding our brand to new markets including Bengaluru. Our aim is to emerge as the #1 player in the premium fruits and vegetable segment of South India, and we are working hard in building a strong base in the nutrition segment,” Pradeep added.
