The Journey of Kisangates
Posted on Septmber 10 2020 / In Kisangates
As per GramworkX, India comes second in terms of worldwide farm produce. More than
48% population of the country relies on agriculture. Yet, the agro value chain needs
a shake-up through digital revitalization.
For any major transformation that is needed for the agro value chain, the Agri input
supply chain needs to be streamlined. That starts with trained field operators who
connect agro-dealers, farmers with the offerings of various companies. By far and
large, companies spend a minimum of 20-25% of their revenues in training, managing
the field operators because the agricultural extension is broken and there are many
other loopholes.
Finding Solutions at Kisangates
Pradeep Raj and Manasa founded Kisangates in 2013. Owing to a deep-rooted passion
for agriculture paired with expertise in tech and management, the duo had an inkling
about the on-field glitch of value chains for quite some tim,br/e. Through research
and
on-field visits, they further realized that this problem could be mitigated. Thus,
they envisioned developing robust digital platforms that would connect agro
companies with the dealers which have a reach to the farmers. They nurtured the idea
at ICRISAT with the guidance of various experts and mentors.
At Kisangates, the team has strived to eliminate those bottlenecks by building
digital channels which increase the revenue of the companies and reduce the
cost-to-serve on fields.
Transforming an Idea into a Venture
There was a strategic and technological dearth of user-centric tools in the
agriculture chain. Further, the solutions for the same were not seamlessly adaptable
on the ground. This affected the scale and growth in the agro-industry.
The idea of Kisangates matured with a thought to use agro informatics to redefine
the on-field value chains that connected companies with dealers which catered to
farmers.
Through agro informatics, we offer refined, seamless solutions to companies, channel
operators, various institutions. These efforts assisted us in achieving the desired
results.
Creation of Future Ready Digital Platforms for On-Field Value Chains
Our digital platforms are created to strike a synergy between the environment and
the business needs. They stem from an intelligent application of agro informatics.
We assist various companies, entrepreneurs, dealers, field forces with the aim to
transform agro-industry with digital-first advisory and prognosis platforms.
At Kisangates, our main digital offering is Pando. It was meticulously designed with
the purpose of creating a streamlined channel between the agro companies and the
field. It works as an uber intuitive digital tool through which aplenty agro
companies can manage their sales and production teams on the ground. Pando empowers
these companies to plan and monitor their operations in a seamless way.
Being Future Ready with Agro Informatics
Especially in agriculture, the field forces play a significant role in enabling
last-mile operations for companies. More importantly, these field forces act as a
link that connects various agro companies with dealers that are familiar with
farmers.
More than 20-25% of their revenue is spent by the agro-companies in simply training
and managing these field forces. However, those seemingly dire expenditures could be
avoided by digitally-enabled field experts and by monitoring input marketing, farm
production, value chain integration.
We faced this challenge head-on by developing a powerful digital platform, Pando.
With the aid of this future-ready tool, a portfolio of 300 products was monitored
across 9 seasons, 20 states for 50 crops. Furthermore, Pando helped in mapping 3
million villages, tracking 40,000 dealers and monitoring 25,000 plots.
Our aim of bridging the on-field gaps for coveted agro companies also got fulfilled
with significant benchmarks like 1 million activities were tracked, 10 million data
points were generated, 1500 markets were reached and 1 million key farmers were
connected with dealers through Pando.
Our Milestones
Through the years, our perseverance and contribution have been recognized through
Seed Grant by Technology Development Board, GOI, recognition as Women
Entrepreneurship Best Startup, Top 30 Rural Startups, Innovation in Value Chain
Projects, Global Innovation.
All through its journey, Kisangates has been trusted by agro companies across the
globe, a few of which include Advanta, SeedWorks, FarmLink, Walmart Foundation,
Prasad Seeds, Delta Seeds, Sea6 Energy, ICRISAT, Tamilnadu State Agricultural Board.
The trust of our customers have fuelled our fire to bring a paradigm shift on the
ground through agro informatics and we look forward to making more difference for
them.
To know more about efforts and digital platforms, visit our website.
