New Delhi: Agritech platform Krishi Network has announced that it has onboarded super-star, Pankaj Tripathi, as an investor and brand ambassador. The association with the actor marks the startup’s efforts to reach out to the masses and help connect with farmers at the grassroots level. Pankaj’s background as a farmer resonates with the startup’s vision to enable farmers to improve profits by providing them instant answers to their questions for making critical farm decisions.
“Coming from a farmer background, I have always believed in supporting initiatives that help farmers with access to information to grow their business. Back in my days as a farmer, genuine and correct information always used to be a concern, and seeing how Krishi Network is supporting farmers is commendable,” said Pankaj Tripathi.
Founded by IIT Kharagpur alumni – Ashish Mishra and Siddhant Bhomia, Krishi Network leverages the growing rural internet penetration to create a platform that eases information accessibility for farmers and enables them to generate higher profits from their land. Providing a mix of online and offline support, the company also has on boarded agri brands, agri-input merchants, and other stakeholders in the agriculture supply chain. Krishi Network app is currently available in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, and English, and is planned to be launched in other languages soon.
Commenting on the announcement, Ashish Mishra, Founder, Krishi Network, said, “We started Krishi Network with a vision to transform Indian agriculture by enabling farmers to adopt change with confidence. We are growing their horizon by reliably connecting them to experts and other agri-businesses beyond their local area. We are delighted with the trust instilled in us and we will work relentlessly to help solve the biggest challenge ailing Indian farmers’ growth.”
Krishi Network has also previously raised funds from prominent angels, namely – Sanjiv Rangrass (ITC), Sunil Khairnar (Indigram labs), Venkat Tadanki (Anvaya ventures), Rushank Vora (ICICI ventures), Aneesh Reddy (Capillary), Abhishek Goyal (Tracxn), Agam Khare (Absolute Foods), Suraj Saharan (Delhivery), Rohit Razdan (ClearTax), and Kanav Hasija (Innovaccer), amongst others. The fresh funds will be used to expand their AI-based technology platform across India and grow rapidly.
“Farmers are real entrepreneurs and they manage a complex business. Krishi Network is an engine that is supported by an engaged community of farmers. This instantly convinced me that the team at Krishi Network led by Ashish & Siddhant will change the landscape for farmers,” said Sanjiv Rangrass (Group Head – R&D, Sustainability at ITC), one of the angel investors.
The company is currently connected with 30 lakh farmers and is planning to grow its network further. The company also offers ‘15-minute answers’ for questions around any agricultural service, which is made possible through 8000+ experts registered on their platform. Krishi Network has seen solid organic support from stakeholders due to the opportunity to connect with farmers. It also benefits the whole agri-ecosystem and leads to frictionless two-way communication access to farmers.
