Gramophone: Farmers First
Year: 2016
Founders: Tauseef Khan, Harshit Gupta, Nishant Mahatre, Ashish Rajan Singh
Funding: Raised $0.41M in 2020 additional Raised $1.81M from Info Edge in 2024
Investors: Info Edge, Z3Partners, Siana Capital, Mastercard (credit partnership)
Introduction
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Gurugram, Gramophone (Agstack Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) delivers a full‑stack agri‑management platform that guides farmers through the entire crop lifecycle. Using AI-driven tech, IoT, and a strong rural distribution network, Gramophone provides agronomic advice, weather alerts, digital soil analysis, and direct doorstep delivery of seeds, crop protection, and crop nutrition products empowering 1 million+ farmers across 20,000+ villages.
Tackling Agricultural Challenges
Indian farmers commonly experience limited access to good inputs, untrustworthy agronomic information, disintegrated supply chains, and credit restrictions. Gramophone addresses these through the integration of localized advisory services (app, call centre, and agent-based assistance), accessible agronomic inputs with door-to-door delivery, and inherent financial instruments such as credit and input finance. Their minimal interface guarantees that farmers—smartphone or not—can receive support and advice throughout the crop cycle.
Key Offerings
- Franchise-backed Gramophone Centres providing on-site advisory and input services.
- Gramophone App and IVR helplines for agronomic advice, weather updates, mandi prices, and community engagement.
- Agri‑Inputs Marketplace delivering seeds, crop protection, crop nutrition, and implements directly to farms.
- AI Advisory Engine offering localized crop advice, disease prediction, and fertility recommendations.
Real Impact
Gramophone has onboarded 1 million+ farmers across 50,000+ villages, achieving over 4 million input orders and expanding to 20 million acres of farmland. Its AI advisory has led to an average 30–40% increase in crop yields and a 10–20% reduction in input costs. Embedded finance initiatives, such as partnering with Mastercard, have unlocked working capital for millions of farmers, further boosting income and cropping decisions. In FY24, they achieved 4x growth but also faced revenue contraction to $11.81M, prompting a strategic merger push with Agstack Technologies to strengthen operations.
Success Story
Reliance Fresh’s use of Gramophone’s app reduced produce rejection rates by ~30%. Exporters using “Intello Deep” (AI scanner) and Gramophone advisory have improved sorting accuracy and yield quality, raising farm returns and reducing post-harvest waste.
Lessons for Agri-Startups
- Blend physical presence (Gramophone Centres) with digital advisory for grassroots adoption
- Embed credit solutions into the platform to increase input and tech uptake
- Use AI and local data to deliver personalized, actionable agronomy advice
- Build frugal, multilingual tech usable via feature phones and agents—maximizes reach.
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