Posted by Pune: Agritech startup and a ‘Phygital’ marketplace MeraTractor catering to farm mechanisation products raised Rs 5 crore in pre-Series A funding, bringing total capital raised to Rs 7.25 crore post this round.
Vibhor Sahare, CEO and Co-founder of ANS Commerce and ex-CEO and Co-Founder of Gaadi.com led the funding round along with Real Time Angel Fund and Digital Futuristic Angels Network. To expand the dealership network presence and enhance technology to organise supply channels, the startup will utilise the raised funds.
“We liked the holistic ecosystem approach that the MeraTractor team is using to solve structural issues in the used tractor space. It’s a unique niche within the broader agritech space that can have a substantial impact in democratising tractor ownership.” said the lead investors.
The Pune-based agritech startup MeraTractor is trying to create an entire ecosystem to become a one-stop solution for all stakeholders engaged in the farm mechanisation sector.
Despite being asset-light, the startup, which is a dealer-owned and company-operated model, controls the entire transaction and creates a sustainable business proposition for farmers, dealers, financiers and new tractor OEMs. Its dealership network is based out of rural locations, which are slated to eventually become its gateway for tapping into the entire rural business opportunities related to the farm sector.
According to Sajith Abraham, Co-Founder of MeraTractor, there has been significant work in crop cultivation, in ensuring better yield, farm-gate solutions and a push from the government to improve farmer income.
“However, farm mechanisation for Indian farmers, of which over 85% are smallholders, has been vastly missed out because of purchase capabilities. This creates challenges starting from discovery, financing facilities, and other key milestones in the process, making it difficult for an unassuming farmer,” said Abraham.
“As a solution, MeraTractor is looking at bridging the gap between a smallholder farmer and access to farm mechanisation / financial products,” added Abraham.
The farm mechanisation sector is on the verge of massive disruption and has created an environment for innovation that will help startups like MeraTractor addresses the inefficiencies in the sector,” Monak Gohel, Co-founder of MeraTractor said about the opportunities that lay ahead.
“We believe farm power is an essential input in agriculture; hence, we are excited about the fundraise as it will help us to accelerate our journey in growing the network further by tapping into massive rural business opportunities that lie ahead,” added Gohel.
Gaurav Gupta, CEO of Adani Capital, Co-Founders of Dehaat, Shashank Kumar and Amrendra Singh, Avinash Kumar, Founder of Credenc and Arvind Kumar, Business Head of Agri division at Force Motors and Ex-CEO of Trringo (M&M group company) and Lemkin India, participated in the funding round.
The startup intends to become a new-age manufacturer that will help dealers (rural entrepreneurs in tier 3 to tier 6 locations) sell farm mechanisation products to small and marginal farmers. Its business model is built around creating a complete eco-system, which is a mix of physical and digital. And hence it is called the ‘Phygital network’.
The network is created to help partner dealers from supply of tractors, demand generation to sale of tractors, name transfer documentation, bringing in banking partners for tractor loans, and much more. It earns revenue from creating value at each point of the transaction.