Agri-fintech start-up KiVi, operated by Agrosperity Tech Solutions Private Limited, announces the conclusion of its seed round of Rs 15 crore led by Caspian Leap for Agriculture Fund, Piper Serica Angel Fund, YAN Angel Fund, Impact Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation, among others. KiVi is incubated at IIT Madras Research Park and stands for kisan vikas - farmer development. 

The farmgate ecosystem comprises farmer households and agri entrepreneurs such as input retailers, output aggregators, farmer producer organisations, and equipment renters. While the farmgate ecosystem presents a large market opportunity for credit and commerce, it has been under-served by the formal markets due to a lack of solutions that address the unique characteristics of the stakeholders. Seasonal cash flows, absence of formal income proof and land ownership proof, fragmented landholding, the inability of traditional lenders to build a cost-effective delivery model and participate in the adjacent commerce opportunities and are the key gaps that KiVi is addressing. 

Joby C O, founder and CEO said welcoming the capital infusion, “KiVi enables timely, affordable, and scale-based credit as well as commerce from the farmgate to the processor. We accomplish this by leveraging our technology and last-mile transaction capability. Our technology platform assembles and integrates the latest technologies in identification, validation, consent, evaluation, and monitoring to provide a seamless experience to all stakeholders. Our last mile capability provides the customer relationship interface that is critical to serving the agri and rural customer base.”   

The start-up is operational in Tamil Nadu and Bihar and has to date enabled 1,500+ farmers to access credit, launched MSME loan offerings to agri entrepreneurs, and enabled commerce and trade finance in commodities including wheat, paddy, and maize.