A?Kerala-based startup, Farmers Fresh Zone (FarmersFZ), has made the nation proud by being selected for the United Nations' 'Accelerator Programme,' organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN.
FarmersFZ has?figured in the list of 12 agri-food startups around the world selected by the UN body to develop businesses. The Kochi-based multichannel marketplace platform, which functions under the?Kerala Startup Mission?(KSUM), ultimately aims to attain the UN Sustainable Development Goals.??
Kerala Startup Mission is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
Pradeep?P.S., who is the CEO of the agritech D2C startup,?will attend the UN event in Rome next month. He said that the UN programme will enable FarmersFZ to present its model to countries across continents, as per the IANS report. The 'UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment' will take place in Rome, Italy, from July 24¨C26, 2023,?at the premises of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
"The model would require alterations based on the nature of the markets in each economy. For that, we need funds, which will come through the accelerator," said Pradeep.
FarmersFZ bridges the gap between rural farmers and urban consumers by providing healthy, premium-quality, and pesticide-free vegetables from the fields to the table within 24 hours of harvest. It connects more than three lakh consumers and 2,000 farmers in Kerala.
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After completing his BTech from the University of Calicut, the startup's CEO, Pradeep P.S., researched the actual issues facing farmers in the agricultural sector.?Some of the problems he identified were that small-scale farmers did not get the intended price for their products in the market, as per a report in Yourstory.
"Even if they have to get the right price, they will have to go behind the merchants. They don¡¯t even get receipts for the items sold," CEO Pradeep had said. He then went around and spoke to farmers to learn more about their problems. Pradeep realised there was a lack of marketing in the space, and the possibilities of an e-commerce platform came to his mind.
Out of curiosity to learn more, he joined as a web developer at Fingent, a New York-based custom software development company in Kochi.?
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During his time at the New York-based company, the?Kerala?startup's CEO developed and launched the website for FarmersFZ, and in eight months, he was able to convince around 52 people to buy from his?startup. With this confidence in mind, he went back to his hometown, spoke to eight farmers, and assured them of a good price for their produce. The farmers cultivated 21 crops, including ladies¡¯ finger, yam, snake gourd, etc., the report mentioned.
"Initially, we used to sell outside our workplace in Infopark, Kochi, after my work hours. Even then, we were confident about the platform. We took orders mostly online. This was in 2015. We were also able to get more reach with the support of companies such as UST Global and TCS. We could develop a corporate model with them where they allowed us to set up stalls within their office premises," recollects Pradeep. The team was soon incubated by Nasscom.
In 2016, CEO Pradeep left his job and decided to focus on FarmersFZ completely. In just three months, Pradeep says, they started generating profits.
Besides ensuring a fair price for farmers¡¯ produce, the Kochi?startup?has also reportedly developed a tech-based algorithm for?yield prediction and profit calculation, depending on the data collected from them. According to the startup, this helps them know about each farmer's experience with land and crops. Pradeep says this will also help the team understand the farming techniques and help farmers by encouraging them to deploy organic practises.
In 2016, the CEO said, "Our aim is to create profitable farmers. Currently, they earn about Rs 20,000 a year. Our aim is to make it Rs. 1.2 lakh. The base price is designed in such a way that a farmer with an acre of land should earn more than Rs 10,000 in profits."
In 2018, the startup?raised Rs 2.5 crore from the Indian Angel Network, Malabar Angels, and Nativelead Foundation, as per the report. The investment round was led by Nagaraja Prakasam and PK Gopalakrishnan, along with Malabar Angels and Native Lead.
And now, being chosen among the world's only 12 startups for the UN's accelerator programme is another big step in the startup's journey?to further grow and flourish.
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