Agritech startup Ninjacart recorded a 1.6X increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in FY23 to Rs 1,600 crore. This growth was driven by a 1.3X expansion in fulfilment services, Co-founder and CEO Kartheeswaran K K told YourStory.
Kartheeswaran said the company has already surpassed last year’s figures in the current financial year and is expected to reach Rs 4,000-5,000 crore GMV by the end of FY24.
Ninjacart primarily operates as an end-to-end solution for the agricultural supply chain, enabling retailers and businesses to directly procure from farmers. It earlier expanded its offerings to include a commerce discovery platform and a fintech credit platform. Now, the Bengaluru-headquartered company expects these newer verticals to contribute 20-30% to the GMV in the current fiscal.
While the commerce discovery platform allows buyers and sellers to connect directly, the credit platform aims to help farmers and traders close deals faster. It does that through credit offerings whereby money is instantly credited to the farmer once their produce reaches the trader.
Collaborating with farmers
Two years ago, Ninjacart realised there were potential benefits of collaborating with established value chain participants such as traders and wholesalers, rather than attempting to handle all aspects of the business.
The CEO recalled that after utilising Ninjacart’s fulfilment services, farmers would sell their remaining produce through traditional traders and vendors. “Today, even for those cases, we are giving him a platform to discover and…trade with fellow traders,” he noted, further stating that the commerce discovery platform allows the startup to actively engage in the distribution of the unsold crops.
“We’re not trying to replace the mandis (wholesale markets) or middlemen any longer; we are trying to co-create things along with them,” Kartheeswaran explained.
“In fact, all the traders and aggregators sitting in the mandi have started using our platform. For example, take Delhi’s Azadpur market. Roughly 20% of traders in the market use our commerce solution today,” he added.
The commerce discovery platform was developed through Tecxprt, a SaaS-based automation solutions provider, the CEO said. Ninjacart acquired Tecxprt in March 2022, gaining access to Tecxprt’s advanced technology suite.
As of today, the commerce discovery platform is active in 70 cities. Kartheeswaran said that the offering is profitable in 7-8 cities and will hold off from expanding to newer cities until the entire vertical is profitable.
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Instant credit
The fintech platform is designed to complement the commerce discovery platform.
When a farmer makes a deal with a trader, the fintech credit vertical helps the farmer get the money when their produce reaches the trader by tying up with an NBFC (non-banking financial company). To use this system, the trader needs to be underwritten by one of the partner NBFCs.
“We built the fintech platform completely in-house. We hired a lot of talent from the fintech space from banks, NBFCs, and the latest fintechs into the company,” Kartheeswaran said.
He said these businesses have grown an estimated 2.6X since launch.
By the end of this year, Ninjacart anticipates that 80% of its business will be profitable. Looking ahead, the company expects to achieve overall profitability for the entire company by FY26.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
