Upaya Social Ventures Announces Investment In Indian Agtech Startup BharatRohan
BharatRohan Airborne Innovations improves farmer livelihoods using drones to detect pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies in crops
Bangalore, India | January 27, 2022
Upaya Social Ventures (Upaya) today announced its investment in BharatRohan Airborne Innovations (BharatRohan), an agribusiness that offers end-to-end services for small and marginal farmers, such as drone-based farm advisory, agri-inputs, and market linkages.
BharatRohan was started by two aeronautical engineers, Amandeep Panwar and Rishabh Choudhary. The business aims to improve farmer incomes by providing them with drone-based farm advisory services.
"India is making rapid technological advancements in the usage of drones, and BharatRohan has been pioneering the applications of drones in agriculture,” said AB Chakravarthy, India Country Director at Upaya. “We are excited by the team’s expertise in providing drone-based crop advisory and market linkage to smallholder farmers. This would help farmers engage in precision farming and boost their income. BharatRohan is at the right inflection point to expand its services to benefit more smallholder farmers and make the agri value chain pesticide-free.”
Small and marginal farmers make up 85% of the total farmer population in India and often struggle from lack of access to quality inputs and accurate and timely crop advisory to detect potential threats. BharatRohan currently provides drone-based advisory services to 5,700 farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Over 835 of those also purchase agri-inputs from the company. The investment will enhance the capability of the company to supply close to 7,000 metric tonnes of traceable and sustainably grown seed spices like cumin, coriander, fenugreek and fennel.
"There are so many tech-enabled startups looking to take advantage of the massive market in Indian agribusiness,” said Kate Cochran, CEO of Upaya. “What stood out for us with BharatRohan is the deep commitment of the entrepreneurs to use technology to improve the lives of farmers."
Panwar and Choudhary first discovered the challenges faced by small and marginal farmers while studying aeronautical engineering and testing drones in the farmlands of Uttar Pradesh. They recognized that farmers were struggling to detect threats to their crops, such as pests, diseases, and nutrient deficiencies. Simultaneously, there has been a growing demand amongst the industrial buyers for pesticide and residue-free farm produce. This discovery to help farmers, combined with the need to ensure judicious use of pesticides and other chemicals in their farms, led to the creation of BharatRohan in 2016.
The investment from Upaya is part of a funding round that will be used primarily for business operations and onboarding talent for sales and business development. The company aims to help its partner farmers save over $50 million worth of crop losses and agri-inputs as well as build a sustainable and traceable supply chain for seed spices.