AgenciesOnato, a business-to-business (B2B) platform for fresh produce, has raised $2.2 million in a seed financing round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with participation from Omnivore.
The Bengaluru-based company, which was in stealth mode, is building a technology platform for India’s $100 billion fruits and vegetables (F&V) industry.
This, in turn, drives better margins and allows small and medium participants to expand their business over time without deepening their credit burden.
The company plans to use the fresh funds to acquire talent and scale up operations, it said in a statement.
“More than 60% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture and yet tech penetration in the agri-supply chain is quite low. Decision making is mostly intuition driven which leads to a lot of volatility in prices and wastage,” Katiyar said.
“I believe bringing in transparency in price discovery and fulfilment through technology will play a crucial role in streamlining the supply chains and decision making,” he added.
According to the company, the Indian F&V value chain - despite its staggering size - is fraught with challenges. The ecosystem grapples with arbitrary price setting, unreliable payment schedules, and lack of access to real-time data between suppliers and downstream market participants.
“By harnessing the power of on-ground data, we can create a revolutionary change in the existing agri value-chain which will result in better value distribution for all participants from farmer up to end-consumer,” Jindal said.
Most of India’s fresh supply moves through inefficient supply chains due to fragmented volumes, arbitrary pricing and complex credit management, said Kanika Mayar, executive director - Southeast Asia & India, Vertex Ventures. “Onato aims to solve for these critical bottlenecks.”
Onato’s well-crafted digital intervention and robust fulfilment process are easing the burden of credit in the supply chain, said Jinesh Shah, managing partner, Omnivore. “The startup is also solving the issue of income instability in Indian agriculture that so often compels farmers to exit farming altogether,” Shah added.
The Bengaluru-based company, which was in stealth mode, is building a technology platform for India’s $100 billion fruits and vegetables (F&V) industry.
Founded in February by Vedant Katiyar and Ashish Jindal, Onato’s platform connects various stakeholders directly and uses data from the demand and supply side to bring transparency in volume and pricing, ensure timely payments, and help customers access new business opportunities.
This, in turn, drives better margins and allows small and medium participants to expand their business over time without deepening their credit burden.
The company plans to use the fresh funds to acquire talent and scale up operations, it said in a statement.
“More than 60% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture and yet tech penetration in the agri-supply chain is quite low. Decision making is mostly intuition driven which leads to a lot of volatility in prices and wastage,” Katiyar said.
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“I believe bringing in transparency in price discovery and fulfilment through technology will play a crucial role in streamlining the supply chains and decision making,” he added.
According to the company, the Indian F&V value chain - despite its staggering size - is fraught with challenges. The ecosystem grapples with arbitrary price setting, unreliable payment schedules, and lack of access to real-time data between suppliers and downstream market participants.
“By harnessing the power of on-ground data, we can create a revolutionary change in the existing agri value-chain which will result in better value distribution for all participants from farmer up to end-consumer,” Jindal said.
Most of India’s fresh supply moves through inefficient supply chains due to fragmented volumes, arbitrary pricing and complex credit management, said Kanika Mayar, executive director - Southeast Asia & India, Vertex Ventures. “Onato aims to solve for these critical bottlenecks.”
Onato’s well-crafted digital intervention and robust fulfilment process are easing the burden of credit in the supply chain, said Jinesh Shah, managing partner, Omnivore. “The startup is also solving the issue of income instability in Indian agriculture that so often compels farmers to exit farming altogether,” Shah added.
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