Over the past year, Ninjacart, a supply chain startup specializing in fresh produce, backed by Tiger Global and Flipkart, has broadened its operations to create a marketplace for farmers and traders. This expansion also includes facilitating access to financial services for these stakeholders, as stated by its chief executive.
Nonetheless, its “traditional” fulfillment business, which directly links farmers with retailers and wholesalers, bypassing intermediaries and aggregators, is set to remain the primary revenue driver for the company, accounting for 60-70% of the total, as disclosed by Kartheeswaran KK in an interview.
“Earlier, a farmer only knew five buyers or aggregators and could only negotiate with them… but through the platform, they have access to many more buyers, and if they come and place bets, the farmers start getting better prices. That is how we expected the marketplace platform to help (farmers),” said Kartheeswaran.
Ninjacart has set its sights on achieving revenue exceeding INR 2,500 crore in the fiscal year 2024, a significant increase from the approximately INR 1,212.5 crore it generated in the preceding fiscal year ending in March 2023, according to the statement by its CEO. Notably, the Bengaluru-based company has not yet submitted its financial statements for FY23 to the Registrar of Companies.
At present, approximately 50% of the business is operating profitably, and the CEO anticipates this percentage will increase to 80% by the year’s end. He further forecasted that the company would achieve a net profit by the conclusion of fiscal 2026.
“We realised it makes sense to expand our offerings to stakeholders across the value chain, for example farm aggregators, traders, and larger wholesalers. Earlier we used to bypass them, but now we have started co-creating along with them,” he said.
Kartheeswaran has been at the helm of the company in the absence of cofounder Thirukumaran Nagarajan, who previously served as its CEO but took a medical sabbatical. The other cofounders include Ashutosh Vikram, Sachin Jose, Vasudevan Chinnathambi, and Sharath Loganathan.
The company currently operates in 70 locations and has plans to expand to 200 cities and towns within the next year, as stated by the CEO. It derives one-third of its business from each of the northern, western, and southern regions of the country.
In addition to collaborating with a multitude of individual retailers, Ninjacart has established partnerships with e-commerce giants like Flipkart and quick-commerce companies such as Instamart to deliver fresh produce and essential items. Furthermore, for its financing marketplace, the company has joined forces with financial institutions such as IDFC First Bank and Mintifi Finserve.
The CEO anticipates that “non-fresh” grocery items such as rice and pulses will represent approximately 50% of the company’s sales volumes by the year’s end, in contrast to the 30% recorded the previous year. The remaining 50% will continue to consist of fresh fruits and vegetables.
In December 2021, Ninjacart secured $145 million in its last funding round, valuing the company at approximately $800 million. Notable investors, including Walmart, Flipkart, and Accel, participated in this round. As per Tracxn data, Tiger Global holds a 19% stake in the firm, while Flipkart owns 12.7%, and Accel holds a 15.3% stake.
Kartheeswaran stated that with 60% of the total funds it raised still in reserve, Ninjacart will have a runway of three-and-a-half years by the end of this year.
The company operates an affiliate called Ninjacart Global, which serves as a bridge connecting exporters and importers. Additionally, Ninjacart is engaged in partnerships with enterprises in other emerging markets, such as its collaboration with Arado, an agriculture marketplace based in Brazil.
“We are providing them with our entire tech stack and expertise instead of selling the product as a SaaS (software-as-a-service), and in return, we have picked up a stake in the firm,” Kartheeswaran said.
The company is in talks with a number of other firms in emerging markets for similar collaborations, he said, adding, “Our systems are built for unorganised markets like Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines and so on, so we’re focused on them as opposed to developed markets like the US.”