Ergos has one of the most unique models in the Agri-tech landscape. The company developed a “Grainbank” that is providing doorstep access to end-to-end post-harvest supply chain solutions to small and marginal farmers. Farmers now have the option to store their grains in the form of digital assets, avail credit against those assets through partner NBFC’s and banks, and get better prices for their produce.
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Challenges addressed by Ergos
∙ Almost 86% of farmers in India are small and marginal farmers, who lack the resources as well as knowledge to adequately store their produce, leading to post harvest grain loss as well as deterioration of grain quality.
∙ Most farmers in India farm on small pieces of land and hence yearly turnover remains small, amounting to one lakh worth of grains in a year. Pre-existing warehouses are located near Mandis and cater to farmers who have a much larger yearly grain produce. There is a loss of produce owing to poor storage and exploitation by traders. There is a need for financial services which can help liquify cash easily for farmers.
As a result, a majority of these farmers do not get access to institutional services. This leads to massive loss of produce due to poor storage and also results in exploitation of farmers in the hands of the traders, because farmers need immediate liquidity to cater to their expenses and credit repayments.
“Grainbank” solution by Ergos
∙ Ergos’ “Grainbank” model offers farmers the flexibility to store or withdraw a single bag of grains. Uniform grain quality and digitization of the grains stored makes it fungible and helps aggregate demand and supply.
∙ Proper storage eliminates the risk of grain loss arising from improper storage by the farmers. There is a linkage built between farmers and the market. Farmers do not have to sell all of their produce during the harvest season due to a lack to storage facility. They can sell some of their produce at a later date when price shoots up. Hence, farmers can avail liquidity easily. All of this, right at the farm gate!
∙ Through an efficient use of technology, Ergos ensures direct farmer engagement and collects an extensive amount of data related to the farmers, to offer better quality solutions to all stakeholders.
Technology used by Ergos
Ergos’ on ground operations are backed by a comprehensive tech platform which assists the end to end process and operations, starting from farmer on-boarding to final sale. The end-to-end process of capturing farmers’ data, booking warehousing space, sale of grains or availing credit happens digitally on the Ergos Live platform. Farmers can easily access their digital inventory, check the current offer price and make transactions on them with just one click or call.
Ergos is actively using 22 technologies for its website, according to BuiltWith. These include Viewport Meta, IPhone / Mobile Compatible, and SPF.
Value Proposition and Key Differentiator of Ergos
∙ Network of Warehouses: Ergos provides scientifically managed warehouses at farmgate where farmers can store even a single bag of grains.
∙ Credit Availability: Users of the Ergos’ “Grainbank” model can gain access to credit from partner banks/NBFCs against grains stored with Ergos.
∙ Market Linkage: Ergos empowers farmers with the choice to sell a single bag of grain per time without fear of spoilage or distress sale. Ergos aggregates the supply, and offers farmers market linkage to sell their stored grains.
∙ Economic impact: Ergos promotes increased volume of sales, increased yield, increased market access, increased access to credit, reduced transaction cost, reduced production cost and allows for higher product prices thereby improving profitability of farming ventures and imparting higher standards of living.
∙ Environmental impact: Ergos enables increased efficiency in agro chemical use and increased access to agricultural information services in real time
∙ Social impact: The company allows for increased women participation, increased youth participation, improved social capital, increased economic mobility, enhanced social inclusion, improved social equity and enhanced social well being
∙ Technical impact: Ergos promotes increased technology adoption, improved information dissemination, increased labor demand, increased the need for agricultural extension agents and better support for extension agents
∙ Impact on overall efficiency: Ergos promotes increase in efficiency by 26-50 percent Looking Ahead:
Ergos currently operates in Bihar with a goal to serve over 2 million farmers across the country by 2025 and create a sustainable income for them. Over the coming years, the company aims to offer the farmers access to best in class services at the farm gate, and deliver significant impact by improving their livelihoods. Learn more at: https://ergos.in/
Agriculture Startup | Ergos Business Solutions Pvt Ltd. |
Founded In | 2012 |
Founders | Mr. Shri Dinesh Kumar Mittal, Mr. Kishor Kumar Jha and Mr. Praveen Kumar |
Solution Overview | Ergos is building an integrated supply chain by setting up micro warehouses. Ergos is a transformational bank for the farmer which leverages technology to seamlessly provide custodial services (warehousing, loans, and market-linkages, enabling the farmer to convert his produce to a financial asset. Through their grid of digitally connected rural micro warehouses, they enable farmers to store their produce, avoid distress sales during harvest season, reduce wastage by scientific warehousing, tide over their immediate liquidity/ financing needs by working with NBFCs/ Banks, and thereby empower farmers to sell their produce as and when they desire, thereby resulting in farmers achieving 25 - 30 percent higher incomes. |
Investors | CDC Group, Chiratae Ventures and Aavishkar Capital. / $16M |
Headquarters | JM Secondary School Rd, Dadpur, Samastipur, Bihar 848129, India 739/1 CHS-707, Opp Indira Canteen, Yelahanka New Town, 4th Phase Bangalore KA 560064 India. |
To read more about agritech startups on our portal https://focusagritech.com/krishihub-technology-driven-agri-ecosystem-for-indian-farmers-2/
