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Otipy, the community group buying platform for fresh produce, has raised $10.2 million in a Series A round led by SIG. The round also saw participation from Omidyar Network India, Innoven Capital, and existing investors IPV (Inflection Point Ventures), Pravega, and FactorE.

The agritech startup had earlier raised $2 million in 2020 led by IPV.

Speaking on the funding, Varun Khurana, Founder and CEO, Otipy, said, “We see a strong product-market fit with the Otipy model for consumers, community leaders, and farmers. Additionally, fresh produce is a high repeat category, resulting in a high frequency of consumer orders. This new round of funding will support us in our future growth trajectory, adding additional categories on our supply chain, making it more efficient, and accelerate our mission of making fresh, nutritious food accessible to all.”

Founded in 2020, Otipy’s farm-to-form delivery model optimises for freshness by procuring directly from farmers and delivering fresh produce to consumers in less than 12 hours.

Using proprietary demand prediction engines, Otipy ensures little or no stocking of fresh produce so that consumers get the freshest products, yet operating with industry-defining wastage metrics compared to the conventional supply chain.

Varun added, “Fresh produce is a 35-40 percent gross margin category. However, it is the wastage that kills those margins. We are among the first companies that have been able to control it via our innovative model.”

The startup sources over 2,500 tonnes of fresh produce every month from 10,000+ farmers across India. Otipy said it has become the e-grocer of choice for over two lakh households.

Madhav Tandan, Director Investments, Omidyar, said, “Otipy is building a unique farm-to-table fruit and vegetable brand centred around quality and value. Not only do they help deliver truly fresh produce, but they are also benefitting the local community leaders and the farmers they’re sourcing from. Farmers partnering with Otipy earn up to 20 percent more and are paid faster too.”

“Their community leader delivery partners are also able to make sizeable additional incomes in the range of tens of thousands rupees per month. This resonates with our focus on increasing value realisation for farmers and the ecosystem by enabling better access to markets and aggregation opportunities,” he added.