CEO Interview: Mr. Anand Chandra, Executive Director & Co-founder, Arya.ag

Mr. Anand Chandra, Entrepreneur, Executive Director & Co-founder, Arya.ag

At Sugermint, our aim is to bring to our entrepreneurs community some of the inspiring stories from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur Mr. Anand Chandra, Executive Director & Co-founder, Arya.ag interview with us.

How did you get your idea or concept for the business? 

We were working together with a Bank handling Rural Banking portfolios for many years before Arya.ag, when we realised that owing to higher transaction cost and service-related issues, Banks were struggling to operate in the primary and secondary markets.  

We had closely seen the gap that exists in the near farm gate primary as well as secondary markets and realised that if we need to build a successful model that reached the bottom of the pyramid, we had to be present where the farmers are.

And then to devise an integrated proposition that fulfils their needs leveraging the best of digital technologies to ensure the model is sustainable and scalable.

What makes Arya.ag unique in the entire ecosystem?

We started out with very less capital, so it was important to use technology to our advantage, to become quicker and more efficient.

Our turnaround time is the best in the ecosystem and that is because at Arya.ag, we have been able to embed innovation and technology in the here and now of our users.

Our integrated model services the smallest of the stakeholders in the most cost-efficient manner, while at the same time being sustainable for us.

That makes us the only large scale agritech start up that’s profitable. Our reach in 56% of all districts of the 21 states that we operate, is unparalleled.

What was your mission at the outset? 

Farmers and small business owners in villages were struggling to access services while in the cities, there were a plethora of options.

Our mission was to create an inclusive and sustainable model of post-harvest agri services especially for those at the fringes of inclusion.

We had created the playbook for warehouse receipt financing in our previous stint with a Bank and we believed that we had the capabilities to transform agri-services in rural India in an inclusive and meaningful way.

We acted upon this instinct and today Arya.ag empowers over 6.5 Lac farmers and 500 FPOs and ensure a growth of 15-25% in their value realisation. 

Workforce of Arya.ag

We have been very lucky in building a strong motivated team which has worked with us through all adversities.

We are currently 1600 strong and growing. The senior management is a combination of bankers and agriculturists, and that is possibly the reason we have been successful at scaling the way we have while being profitable from year one.

The drive to create impact is why our solutions are class apart and the trust layer we add between demand and supply is so highly valued.

Arya.ag’s Short term and Long-term goals- vision

We are looking at expanding our commerce/market linkage volumes from the existing ARR of USD 200Mn to USD 1Bn in the next 12 months.

We are deepening our services to farmers by adding layers of pre-harvest services and driving significant tech enhancements including deployment of blockchain, greater AI integration and remote sensing. We will continue to expand our reach from the current 55% of the Indian districts to 75% this year.

Our long term vision is to enable freedom of choice on value chain decisions to 10 million farmers. 

They should be able to decide for themselves on when to sell, whom to sell to, how and at what price. That would be true success.

What is your mantra to build a successful customer base? 

Transparency, speed of execution and value proposition – all delivered over a layer of highest order of trust.

Nature of challenges Arya.ag has faced during its journey and the way Arya.ag tackled those. 

We struggled with capital crunch to start with but that was a blessing in disguise as it helped us build efficiencies from Day one.

With our tech-led focus, we have been able to tide over major risks involved in this business. Our model has stood the test of time.

We have successfully steered through major market disrupting reforms / events including demonetisation, GST implementation, farm loan waivers and the COVID pandemic. We believe we are here to significantly improve the lives of our fellow farmers. 

Who has been your greatest inspiration? 

My biggest inspiration has been Sachin Tendulkar. The discipline, the commitment, the consistency, the desire and humility with which he has gone about doing his business inspires me to do something in the field of agriculture.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be? 

To someone starting out, I would suggest to develop a clear focus on what you are building and why.

And the eye on your goal must be like Arjun’s in Mahabharat. Because you will be distracted, you be challenged, you will told you will fail, you will asked to do things differently, but only with a clear focus can you achieve what you intend to.

We hope you find the inspiring interview of Mr. Anand Chandra, Executive Director & Co-founder, Arya.ag useful and inspiring through your entrepreneurial journey and will keep you inspired.

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