E-tailer app to bridge farmer-buyer divide

SR Subrahmania Rajah, CEO, Ansio Marketplace said, “Our business is based on the hub and spoke model and we are looking at being a ‘farm to home’ and ‘factory to home’ specialist. We will serve as many as 87 pin codes in Chennai, with the help of around eight cold chain-enabled facilities that have an average of 4,000 stock keeping units (SKU) at any given point in time. We have tied up with Nallakeerai, who has an extensive database of organic, pesticide-free farms. These are the sources of our produce, and the branding is by them as well.”

Rajah tells us that marketplace and its app, aimed at giving farmers in Tamil Nadu, a healthier ecosystem for distributing their produce, were set up with a bootstrapped investment of Rs 10-12 cr.  The target is to hit the sweet spot of 2,000-2,500 deliveries per day. He adds, “We teamed up with local milk vendors and farmers to offer regular subscription services. 

Households can opt for a subscription to receive all their daily needs including fresh milk, batter, greens, and other staples using our app. On the suppliers’ side, it helps them plan their production and tap into markets that were not previously reachable. We are developing a simple app to be used by milk vendors, to help them plan their distribution in various neighbourhoods.”

The company is also keen on pushing its focus on consumer durables for which plans are on to rope in an NBFC that will offer consumer durable loans to customers.