🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Ono’s platform brings India’s farm wholesale markets online

• ONO aims to improve how farmers connect with mandis, India’s traditional wholesale agricultural markets 1.
• Its tools include “ONO Connect” for checking prices and finding markets, plus “ONO Cash” for access to credit 1.
• The company also runs “ONO Click,” a software-as-a-service product for commission agents and traders, along with “ONO Mandi,” a mid-mile trading platform that moves produce from farms to end markets 1.
• Others are taking a similar path. Jai Kisan, a rural neobank focused on rural customers, got a non-banking finance company (NBFC) license in 2024 after buying a majority stake in supply chain financing company Kushal Finnovation Capital 1.

Smaller rounds still add to a farm tech sector that needs funding

• India’s agritech sector logged 28% more deals last year than in 2023 1.
• This round is small, though it adds to a market where fruit marketplace Vegrow raised US$46 million in a series C round, including primary and secondary funding, while DeHaat has raised more than US$270 million overall 1.
• Funding has kept flowing even with losses. DeHaat’s consolidated net loss grew 3.76% to 11.3 billion rupees (US$136 million) in FY24 from 10.9 billion rupees (US$131 million) a year earlier 1.
• Investors still seem willing to back the long shift toward digital tools in India’s farm economy, with scale and market share ahead of near-term profit 1.