TheAgrihub is a agriculture specific online discovery platform that was founded in January 2016 with an objective to bring agricultural product sourcing for B2B & B2C at fingertips. The startup offers all the agricultural products information in one click in comparison to scattered information about it on the internet. One can track everything from new innovations and products to finding suppliers next door just with a click of a button enabling an educated purchase decision. The company was founded by Rajeeb Kumar Roy, Abhishek Bhatt & Sidharth Kumar. Rajeeb Kumar Roy is the CEO of Theagrihub.
Theagrihub can help the farmers as well as sellers in different ways:For Growers/Farmers:
1. They can discover the products, companies, dealers, new launches & technologies etc.
2.Compare products for better decision making. The farmer can do the comparison on various parameters that is relevant to the produce and field.
3. Research and take educated purchase decision.
4. A farmer can send enquiry to multiple suppliers and also can find the suppliers nearby
5. Theagrihub provides the feature of discovering relevant events around the globe
For Business houses/business owner:1. Theagrihub will provide an easy and targeted discovery by potential distributors, retailers, importers and customers.
2. can showcase products, specifications and pictures and videos in relevant category which is presented as per the understanding of farmer on the website
3. It do not compromise on privacy of companies and dealers as phone no. and email is not exposed to potential spammers
4. The companies can launch their new products using this platform reaching targeted end users.
5. The startup will be sharing strong business and search analytics periodically which will eventually help the companies to do a targeted marketing.
Taking about their initial days, Theagrihub’s team said, “The idea generated from the scarcity and we are no exception. Our founder Mr. Rajeeb Roy was looking to buy insect traps for his clients and figured out that he will have to do so by importing it from Korea. Working on the procurement of product, he met someone who told that a better quality of insect trap is available 40 kms from Bangalore. That’s where the idea knocked into his head and following some weeks of market study, we realized that there are hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the unstructured flow of information. And that’s when we decided to fix the problem and named it as Theagrihub.”
The startup’s USP is the information flow that it has presented on the website. Under the current flow, it is understood by the famer as how the farming is done and where will he find his product while on the other hand same goes for the companies too.
Also the problem is unavailability of information in the regional language in the country. Unlike other general discovery platforms who are displaying information in global language, Theagrihub will be giving the right information in local language which the farmers understand and make a right decision.
At the moment, the company has direct contract with the brands which automatically brings the suppliers on the platform. “Also that gives us leverage to allow a filter based on the location of user and fetch the right information based on geo location,” the team added.
Theagrihub is bootstrapped so far, and have raised the initial funding from the founders itself which was Rs. 10 Lakh. The company is in talks to raise $3 million in the next 6-8 months from few investors in India and US.
The website will be free for famers forever while on the other hand it plan to monetize from subscription and advertisement in near future. The subscription plan will be penetrated to an extent where a retailer won’t be hesitant to pay while on the other side; the startup will have companies who will be willing to use its platform to launch their new product to a targeted segment.
Commentiong on the challges face by the venture, the team further mentioned, “The major challenge in a specific discovery platform is bringing the companies and farmers together on one platform which is dealt by Founders who have huge experience in the farming & agriculture industry. Mr. Rajeeb Roy, Founder, TheAgrihub has been in the industry for last 2 decades and has introduced numerous hi tech agriculture technologies in India. With his diversified range of experience, we are selecting the best and bringing on TheAgrihub platform with their approval and consent.”
The agriculture market in India is $370 billion and agriculture input comprises of 30% of that value i.e. $111 billion. As from the opportunity standpoint, the market is raw and ready and adoption among the progressive farmers and traders will set an example for the bottom of pyramid people too.
The company has more than 3000 page views and it is seeing around 100 unique users everyday. The startup has on boarded more than 100 brands on its portals with more than 2000 SKU. It already has covered majority of big brands on its portal like Yara, Tafe, John Deere and etc. During the launch period, its focus was specifically on hi tech agriculture.
In the coming 6 months, Theagrihub will be adding close to 500 more companies whose presence is both local & global. In the growth stage, the company will also focus on both conventional as well as hi tech agriculture by which it will have an extended reach in the market.
While sharing their advice for the new entrants in this space, the team said, “Get your product or service right, reach out to the right target audiences, generate good number of feedback on your product or service before you set out to launch. We are still a start up and would be able to share an in-depth advice after moving to the next stage.”
