Otipy focuses on-demand harvesting, Founder CEO Varun Khurana says

New Delhi: Otipy focuses on technology-driven, on-demand harvesting to keep food wastage to a minimum, its chief executive has said.

Founded in June 2020, Otipy is a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) agritech startup operated by Crofarm India. It connects end consumers to farmers via a community of resellers who handle the last-mile delivery of fruits and vegetables. With the help of AI-based demand prediction, it leverages historical data to procure farm produce.

The company recently raised $10.2 million in a Series A funding round led by SIG, Omidyar Network India, along with participation of existing investors Inflection Point Ventures.


In an email interview, Otipy CEO Varun Khurana discussed on-demand harvesting and benefits of using Artificial Intelligence in the agri space. Edited excerpts.

How is the Otipy model different from Crofarm India’s? Or is it a rebranding?

Crofarm India's original model was B2B while Otipy is B2B2C. Otipy works on resellers' models, where our partners/resellers do the early morning doorstep delivery to consumers. Currently Otipy has 20,000+ partners.

Does Otipy offer farm-to-fork delivery? How does it work?

Otipy is a B2B2C community buying platform for fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) in India and works closely with reseller partners, primarily women and neighbourhood stores. Otipy focuses on-demand harvesting as per predicted demand to keep minimum wastage through technology used for procurement, distribution and delivery.

Farm procurement in India is via mandis and in very traditional ways. How is Otipy doing it directly from the farmers?

Otipy has multiple farmer connections including FPOs (farmer producer organisations) that it has built over the last five years. Otipy procures from farmers across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and other states.

Who all are the investors in Otipy? Are you profitable?

Otipy's investors include SIG, Omidyar, Inflection Point Ventures, FactorE Ventures and Pravega Ventures. Otipy is not profitable yet but operates on gross margin of around 32%.

How do farmers benefit from Otipy? What are your plans?

Otipy guides farmers on what to harvest in which season, what kind of seeds and soil they should use, making them aware about the hybrid variety. We guide farmers that there are NGOs, bank schemes and KPOs from where they can get financial assistance. We work with the motto to help farmers deliver freshness, efficiently and directly from their farm to the doorstep of the consumers.

How is it AI-based? What are the data inputs and technology that you use?

To reduce wastage in the supply chain Otipy has come up with the technology predictive algorithms. This method helps us to reduce the wastage, among other benefits.