KisanServ Revolutionizes India's Agri-Supply Chain with AI-Powered Price Discovery
In the traditional Indian "mandi" system, the journey of a single tomato from a farm to a kitchen can involve five to seven different middlemen, each adding a layer of cost while the produce loses freshness. For Niranjan Sharma, Arun Kumar, and Praveen Tiwary, the founders of KisanServ, this inefficiency was more than a business problem—it was a societal failure. By building a proprietary price discovery framework that allows millions of farmers to bid directly into a demand-driven system, KisanServ is reducing consumer prices by up to 40% while ensuring farmers get a fairer share of the pie.
Niranjan Sharma, CEO of KisanServ, brought over 20 years of experience from retail giants like Reliance Retail and Mother Dairy. Alongside Arun Kumar (Co-founder) and Praveen Tiwary (CDO), the trio has built a technology-first AgriTech platform that has scaled from a bootstrapped side hustle to a massive operation serving over a million customers and thousands of Kirana partners.
The Tomato Epiphany
The idea for KisanServ was born when the founders visited a mandi and saw a staggering 50% price gap between what the farmer was paid and what the consumer was charged. They realized that by eliminating unnecessary linkages in the supply chain, they could provide high-quality produce at a price that traditional aggregators couldn't match.
The Problem: A Fragile and Opaque Supply Chain
The Indian agricultural supply chain is one of the most fragmented in the world. When a large company wants to buy ten tons of tomatoes, they usually have to navigate through multiple agents, Mandis, and local traders. This creates two critical issues:
- Lack of Price Discovery: Farmers have no real-time data on what their produce is worth, often selling to the first agent who makes an offer.
- Predatory Competition: Without a structured bidding system, middlemen control the margins, leaving the farmer with the lowest possible profit and the consumer with the highest price.
"The linkages of the supply chain are immense," Niranjan explains. "We needed to develop a framework where the farmer and the consumer directly participate in price discovery, eliminating the Complete link of middlemen."
The Solution: The KisanServ Bidding Framework
KisanServ doesn't just buy and sell; it acts as a digital marketplace. On one side, they have connected millions of farmers. On the other, they have demand coming from B2B corporates, Kirana stores, and direct consumers. The magic happens in the middle, where a proprietary bidding engine ensures the best possible price for all stakeholders.
The Farm-to-Fork Journey
- Supply Side Integration: Millions of farmers are connected to the KisanServ system, providing data on their harvest.
- Demand Aggregation: Orders flow in from B2B (Reliance, BigBasket), Kirana partners, and street vendors.
- Real-Time Bidding: The framework allows for transparent price discovery based on actual demand and supply, not agent whims.
- Efficient Logistics: KisanServ handles the logistics, ensuring the 40% cost saving is passed directly to the consumer.
The "Sajhedari" Model: Empowering the Kirana
While eCommerce and organized retail are growing, 90% of India’s food market still belongs to the neighborhood Kirana shop. KisanServ recognized that they couldn't reach the "Next Billion" without these partners. They launched "Sajhedari"—a partnership model that turns a Kirana shop into a digital fresh-produce hub.
"We tell the Kirana owner: Start your business today without putting a single penny on capital investment," Arun Kumar explains. "No headache of wastage or inventory. You start earning from day one." This model has allowed KisanServ to scale rapidly into every neighborhood without the high cost of building their own retail storefronts.
Digitizing the Street Vendor
KisanServ's vision extends even to the street-side vendors who account for a massive chunk of the food segment. By making them "digitally enabled," KisanServ allows these small traders to buy their produce at 30-40% lower prices than the local Mandi, directly impacting their livelihoods and the prices they offer to the common man.
KisanServ Scale & Traction
- 1 Million+ Customers: Reached primarily through organic word-of-mouth.
- 40% Cost Reduction: Consistently delivering fresh produce cheaper than competitors.
- Zero Marketing Spend: Built a massive brand without spending a single penny on advertising.
- 100% Bootstrapped: Validating the business model and unit economics before seeking institutional capital.
Lessons in Resilience: The COVID-19 Pivot
When KisanServ started, its primary revenue came from the hospitality industry (hotels and restaurants). When the 2020 lockdown hit, that revenue went to zero overnight. Rather than shutting down, the founders saw an opportunity to serve the residential societies that were cut off from fresh produce.
"We reached a point where we had to reject our entire business model," Praveen Tiwary recalls. "We shifted to B2C and residential deliveries. The societies loved it, and we acquired thousands of customers purely through word-of-mouth. Every challenge is an opportunity to change yourself."
Founder's Lesson: User Friendliness is Key
Praveen emphasizes that technology shouldn't be intimidating. "A large part of India is not 'technocrat' savvy. You have to build an ecosystem that is very user-friendly, where even a farmer or a small vendor can participate in the digital economy effortlessly."
The Meaning of Entrepreneurship
For the KisanServ trio, entrepreneurship is about persistence and empathy. It’s not just about building a product; it’s about solving a problem for a society you care about. Niranjan defines it as the ability to "stay alive for another day" and have the determination to see a vision through, even when the market crashes.
"The idea never fails; it’s the entrepreneur who stops pursuing it," they assert. "Always be ready to mold yourself according to the market. Consistency and activity are what drive acceptance."
Key Lessons for Aspiring Builders
1. Look for Large-Scale Impact
Do something for the society that is scalable. If your solution benefits millions of people, the acceptance rate will always be higher.
2. Trust the Data, Not the Middleman
Transparency is the greatest disruptor. By providing clear data on Mandi prices vs. farmer pay, KisanServ made the "hidden" costs of the supply chain visible and, eventually, obsolete.
3. Stay Bootstrapped as Long as Possible
KisanServ validated its unit economics and reached a massive scale before even worrying about institutional funding. This ensures that when you do raise money, you are doing it from a position of strength and clarity.
KisanServ is proving that the oldest industry in the world—agriculture—is the one most ripe for a digital revolution. By placing the farmer at the center and the consumer at the finish line, Niranjan, Arun, and Praveen are building a more nourished and equitable India.
About the Guests
Niranjan Sharma is the CEO of KisanServ, bringing decades of experience from Reliance Retail and Mother Dairy. Arun Kumar is a co-founder with a deep background in finance and wealth management. Praveen Tiwary is the Chief Digital Officer, driving the technology and data frameworks that power the platform. Together, they have built one of India’s most resilient and impactful AgriTech companies.
KisanServ is an AgriTech platform that uses a proprietary price discovery bidding framework to streamline the agricultural supply chain. By connecting farmers directly to retail and B2B demand, the company ensures fresher produce, higher earnings for farmers, and lower prices for consumers.