Agrograde: Quality Grading
Year: 2018
Founders: Kshitij Thakur and Rakeshkumar Barai
Funding: $170,000 across 3 seed rounds
Investors: Social Alpha, Villgro, Aligned Partners Venture Services, Impact Innovators and Entrepreneurs Foundation
Introduction
Agrograde, owned by Occipital Technologies Pvt. Ltd., is revolutionizing India’s post-harvest industry with cutting-edge AI. Founded in 2018 and based in Pune, Agrograde deals in intelligent grading and sorting technology for fresh fruits and vegetables. The startup standardizes, streamlines, and makes the agriculture supply chain more reliable by eliminating subjectivity in quality evaluation. Their cloud-based AI platform scans for parameters such as size, color, and blemishes to grade fruits and vegetables rapidly and precisely—improving marketability as well as farmer returns. With mobile-first technology, cloud connectivity, and plug-and-play devices, Agrograde is transforming quality control for exporters, FPOs, and agri-enterprises.
Tackling Agricultural Challenges
India’s agricultural sector loses more than 30% of the produce after harvest due to subpar handling, subjective grading, and inefficient infrastructure. Farmers are short-changed because of variable grading systems, and buyers cannot ensure quality standards in bulk. It is this inefficiency that generates mistrust and loss on both sides. Agrograde eliminates all these inefficiencies by providing consistent, traceable, and damage-free sorting through its AI-powered instruments. Farmers get better negotiation power through objective insights, while enterprises gain access to real-time quality data for faster procurement and smarter inventory planning.
Key Offerings
- AI Sorting Machine: A patent-pending device that grades by size, shape, color, and visible defects—non-invasive and ideal for exporters, packhouses, and large aggregators.
- Mobile Quality App: Empowers farmers and FPOs to assess produce quality on the spot, generate real-time reports, and negotiate prices with confidence.
- Cloud-Based Insights: All quality reports are stored and accessible for analytics, traceability, and performance optimization—reducing buyer friction and improving supply chain decisions.
- FPO & Enterprise Integration: Scalable deployment models ensure Agrograde’s solutions fit mid-to-large agri-enterprises and cooperatives with minimal onboarding time.
Real Impact
Agrograde is proving that digitization can eliminate inefficiencies from farm to fork. Their AI-powered solutions have improved post-harvest quality management for several Farmer Producer Organizations and agribusinesses across India. By reducing subjectivity in grading, they’ve helped farmers command better prices and reduced wastage significantly. Buyers now rely on consistent grading standards to plan their procurement more efficiently. As a result, farmer incomes have increased and shelf-life of produce has improved—bringing systemic gains across the chain. Agrograde’s traceable reporting system has also strengthened trust and transparency in B2B agri-trade.
Success Story
One of Agrograde’s partner FPOs in Maharashtra saw a 25% drop in rejected consignments after adopting their grading solution. Prior to this, farmers faced high rejection rates due to inconsistent quality standards. After onboarding Agrograde’s mobile grading app, farmers began generating quality reports before shipping. This allowed the FPO to standardize its output, strengthen buyer trust, and close repeat orders with a leading food retail chain. With reduced wastage and higher price realization, the FPO reported a 30% boost in net profits that season.
Lessons for Agri-Startups
- Standardization Wins Trust: Grading consistency enables smoother B2B transactions and reduces disputes with buyers.
- Tech Must Be Farmer-First: Tools like mobile apps need to be simple, vernacular-friendly, and usable in low-connectivity zones to drive adoption.
- Data Creates Leverage: Quality data becomes a negotiation tool for farmers and a planning asset for aggregators.
- Post-Harvest Innovation Is Undervalued: Startups focusing on processing and quality handling—not just pre-harvest—hold immense untapped potential.
- Hardware-Software Synergy Matters: Seamless integration between field devices and cloud reporting is essential for scale.
Stay Informed with Focus Agritech
Agrograde is leading a quiet revolution in how India grades its produce. Follow their journey as they bring accuracy, equity, and efficiency to post-harvest agriculture—one sorted mango, tomato, or pomegranate at a time.Explore more such stories, insights, and opportunities in the agritech ecosystem.
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