Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal's family office funds agritech startup Agrowave

Agrowave, an agritech startup, has raised $2 million in Pre-Series A from Aroa Ventures, the family office of Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal. The firm is building a supply-driven farm-to-market mobility supply chain with focus on first-mile logistics and trades supply through an integrated network of mobile pickup stations. The company plans to use the funds to expand the team and scale operations to achieve a monthly GMV (gross merchandise value) of over Rs 100 crore.

Founded in 2017, Gurugram-based Agrowave is a first-of-a-kind agritech startup striving to build 40,000 mobile pickup stations (MPS) at farm gates to procure directly from farmers.  After pivoting to the farm-to-mandi marketplace model, Agrowave has significantly scaled and achieved gross merchandise value (GMV) of approximately Rs 15 crore volume, 8000 tons by operating in over 150 villages in the month of December 2021. Besides its existing 3000 MPS(s), the company now eyes to invest in algorithms to efficiently optimize first mile logistics for its integrated network of Mobile Pickup stations.

“Growing up, I saw the challenges my grandfather, a farmer, faced.  Solving these challenges that farmers across India face, has since been my mission,” said Agrowave founder Anu Meena. “We at Agrowave, are building solutions which enable farmers to sell their produce from their farm-gates in just a few clicks.  This funding will help us further expand our network of farmers, bring more transparency in the value chain, and most importantly positively impact the livelihood of farmers."

Agrowave’s innovative and scalable approach of building supply-driven farm-to-market mobility through technology focused on first-mile logistics and trade supply through an integrated network of MPS(s) has  allowed the company to make a name for itself in the market.

Venture capitalist Hemendera Mathur, who is an advisor to Agrowave, said the firm is solving a unique problem of connecting farmers with traders and buyers, in the first mile from farm to the mandi. “This is a hugely scalable model, with the application of technology.  This round of funding is a testimony of the potential and team's ability to deliver on it,” said Mathur.

Gaurav Gulati, head and CIO at Aroa Ventures, said small and marginal farmers are the backbone of this country and account for the majority of all farmers. “ Innovation and technology shifts in this sector are critical to ensure that they have access to the best markets and prices.  We are delighted to be supporting Agrowave in their mission to empower farmers,” said Gulati.

Though Agrowave has already set up its base in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, the company now plans to strengthen its presence in these markets further. On top of that, Agrowave has aggressive expansion plans in remote and hinterland areas where it intends to work with multiple skilled farmers and MPS(s).

Anu Meena, an IIT Delhi alumni started Agrowave to solve the problem faced by her grandfather and millions of farmers in selling their fresh produce.  Agrowave’s tech platform enables farmers to sell their produce from their farm gates at better rates. Other key team members at the firm include Prabhat Sharma (product and strategy) an IIT Delhi alumni, Bharat Malhotra (technology), and Safia Sarfaraz (business growth).