[Funding alert] Agritech Startup Ninjacart Raises $9 mn in fresh round

Business-focused agritech firm Ninjacart has raised $9 million in a fresh funding round from South Korea-based STIC and UK-based Mainstream Digital Life IV Pte Ltd.

The company has raised funding at a valuation of $812 million.

The Bengaluru-based Ninjacart was founded in 2015 by Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Sharath Loganathan, Sachin Jose, Kartheeswaran KK, and Vasudevan Chinnathambi, It buys fresh fruits and vegetables directly from farmers and supplies to retailers, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets.

The startup claims that it distributes over 1,400 tonnes of fresh produce daily from farmers in over 20 states and supplies it to over 17,000 retail stores, most of which are neighborhood kirana stores.

The company currently operates in seven cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, and Mumbai.

In December 2021, Ninjacart had raised $145 million in funding round from Walmart-backed Flipkart. With this fundraising, Ninjakart will help Flipkart expand its 90-minute online grocery business – Flipkart Quick – to 200 cities by the end of 2022.

Earlier this year, the startup also executed employee stock option (ESOP) buybacks worth Rs 100 crore for existing and former employees. In March 2022, Ninjacart had acquired Tecxprt, a SaaS-based end-to-end solutions start-up.

About Ninjacart

Ninjacart is India’s largest Fresh Produce Supply Chain platform. They are pioneers in solving one of the toughest supply chain problems in the world by leveraging innovative technology. They connect producers of food directly with retailers, restaurants, and service providers using in-house applications that drive end-to-end operations. Currently, their supply chain is equipped to move vegetables and fruits from farmers to retailers and businesses across 7 cities, every day in less than 12 hours.

They eliminated intermediaries by taking control of the Supply Chain by using technology and analytics. They built reliable, cost-effective, and high-speed logistics and infrastructure to solve for inefficiencies and reduce food wastage in the Supply Chain. On one end, farmers get better prices and consistent demand, and on the other end, retailers receive fresh produce at competitive prices that are delivered to their doorstep. Their high-quality and hygienically handled fresh produce ensures healthy food to consumers.

Their vision is to build India’s most efficient and largest Supply Chain platform and improve the lives of producers, businesses, and consumers in a meaningful manner. They are focused on making the Ninjacart innovation more accessible to the most fragmented parts of society. They intend to leverage their strengths and resources to innovate for new product categories and customer segments while solving complex supply chain problems.

Their supporters In a short span of 5 years, Their investors include Accel US, Syngenta Ventures, Neoplux, HR Capital, Trifecta Capital, Jo Hirao, Founder of ZIGExN, Accel India, Nandan Nilekani, Mistletoe, Qualcomm Ventures, Tiger Global, Flipkart and Walmart.