KiVi (Kisan Vikas), an agri-fintech startup, has made headlines by raising Rs 15 crore in a seed funding round. The round was led by the Caspian Leap for Agriculture Fund, YAN Angel Fund, Impact Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation, and Piper Serica Angel Fund, among others.

As per the startup, the freshly raised funds will be used to build a robust technology platform for scaling up and increasing the last-mile presence across many districts.

Further, the freshly raised funds will be used to strengthen the product and risk capabilities and obtain an NBFC license.

KiVi | Agri-fintech Enabling Credit, Commerce & Distribution

Founded by Joby CO, along with co-founders Rajendra Kumar, Padmakumar K, Salil Nair, and Manoj Ramaswamy, KiVi is an IIT Madras Research Park incubated agri-fintech startup that provides farmers access to credit, commerce & distribution.

Operating through Agrosperity Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd, KiVi provides digital financial solutions and a phygital platform for the farmer to procure input, implement agronomy practices, process & market output.

Speaking about the development, Joby CO, founder and CEO of KiVi, stated that microfinance loans are not suitable for farmers and agri entrepreneurs as they did not have market linkage services that could enable them to effectively sell their output at the farmgate.

Joby added,

“On the supply side, financial institutions are keen to lend to the agri sector but do not have the capability to lend to the sector. KiVi platform is addressing these gaps.”

The agri-fintech startup, which connects suppliers and consumers of capital suppliers and buyers of agri commodities, employs a micro-entrepreneur-led (franchisee) model. The model combines the strength of the platform with the franchisee’s local expertise, social capital, and last-mile transaction capability. Currently present in four districts in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, KiVi looks to expand in the southern states in the next five years.

Expansion Plans At Sight

Manoj Ramaswamy, Co-founder and CFO at KiVi, stated that the agri-fintech startup plans to expand to five states, with a focus on South India, such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, with a focus on South India in the next five years.

The startup claims to have onboarded about 3,700 farmers from Tamil Nadu and Bihar, providing them access to credit. It has also launched MSME loan offerings to agri entrepreneurs. As per the startup, it has five lending partners, including Federal Bank, EASF Small Finance Bank, and Samunnati, and has enabled disbursements of ₹6.5 crore worth of loans to more than 2,000 farmers.

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