This agri-fintech startup is redefining rural trade by connecting Bharat with India ‘phygitally’
A significant portion of India’s population resides in rural areas. The rural trade ecosystem is still driven by trust, relationships and physical interactions. Without a digital interface, this segment is largely untapped. Tapping into this underserved market, Telangana-based agri fintech startup Hesa offers all-business access to its targeted rural population through its three-tiered social, digital and physical platform.
“Technology in rural India has a huge scope that will enhance the lives of rural consumers through diverse services. It is the key to creating a level playing field for the rural and urban areas by opening opportunities across villages. India needs to adapt to the technology and use digital methods to reshape India’s economic inclusion landscape,” it reasons Vamsi Udayagirifounder and CEO, Hesa about the idea behind the launch of the startup.
As a technology enabler, Hesa bridges the gap for the world’s largest customer base residing in rural India by being the end-to-end solution for corporates, SMEs, banks, governments and NGOs looking to access rural India, for purchase and sale. including brand campaigns and social responsibility. Hesa’s user-friendly technology platform is supported by village-level entrepreneurs called “Hesaathis”. These ‘Hesaathis’ form the backbone of the business proposition that takes the dream forward to every village across India.
To put things into perspective, the platform enables farmers to buy and sell online. A farmer intending to sell a commodity posts the sale offer over the Hesa app after approaching a ‘Hesaathi’. In parallel, a fellow ‘Hesaathi’ buys it on behalf of the health seller and the wallet payment is made between the two Hesaathis. The first ‘Hesaathi’ pays the former immediately via a bank transfer. It’s a fast and seamless transaction. This is one of their game-changing processes with a wide portfolio of partners in agritech (Bighaat, Gramcover, Dodla dairy, Reshamandi, Krishitantra, Waycoo); in fintech (Instantpay, Reliance, Airtel Payments Bank, Digit, Jai Kisan) and in products and services (Wipro Consumer Care, Mahindra, Metro, Bajaj Electronics and HDFC Life).
Address the problem statement
About 850 million villagers spread across Tier 1-6 cities living in 6.5 lakh villages have little or no access to any form of online commerce. The statistics are even more alarming and disturbing at ground level. Retail services have a limited presence with their products little available through ‘kirana’ stores. To address this, Hesa has launched a household consumer brand called ‘SUHAS’ which offers a wide range of kitchenware ranging from lentils, spices, grains and more. It is affordable for consumers to discover in local kirana stores through the e-commerce platform of Hesa. Villages are also deprived of clothing stores with limited reach to e-commerce platforms. The supply chain topped by financial constraints and gaps in customer identification made unit economics unviable.
The problem statement that Vamsi and his team were looking to address was clear. Serving the USD 650 billion Indian rural market, the startup took up the challenge and went live with its app. In the initial stages, 50 ‘Hesaathis’ were onboarded in a pilot program in three districts of Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, 1,100 ‘Hesaathis’ were onboarded along with 10 B2B affiliates, retaining over 65 percent of them and starting the business. These ‘Hesaathis’ were trained by the startup to use the platform and deliver products and services to rural households.
“We plan to reach out to the 70-crore rural population who are yet to adapt to online shopping across India,” adds Vamsi.
Recognition galore
Hesa has emerged as a market disruptor and has capitalized on over 30 lakh rural consumers in 27,000 villages in 28 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka with over 35,000 ‘Hesaathis’. The business has been regarded as an enabler of employment in the countryside. The startup has partnered with entities looking to increase brand visibility or even financial services. Interestingly, the composition of these micro-entrepreneurs or ‘Hesaathis’ comprises over 23 per cent women. Hesa has been able to cater to over 6 lakh customers with 40 brands in a short span of time.
The company has been certified as one of the select few social startups under Govt of Telangana’s TSIC (Telangana State Innovation Cell). Their collaboration with the Government of Telangana’s ‘Stree Nidhi’, which includes over 1 million women, helps rural women’s groups with digital repayment of microfinance loans. The digital transactions are activated right at their respective villages, offered on Hesa’s technology platform. As a pioneering initiative, they have been offered partnership with ‘Krishitantra’ spread across 500 locations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh enabling 50,000 farmers to access soil testing services.
Hesa had also acquired companies such as Gully-Buy, a digital marketing technology platform and Flinkhub, a platform for creators to build social learning experiences. These acquisitions were made to facilitate the local shopping experience through a digital marketplace in neighborhoods (ravins) across India and provide a platform to train a network of village-level entrepreneurs to address the challenge of finding and building community.
Meet the team
As the Founder and CEO, Vamsi, who is passionate about bridging the rural-urban divide, carefully calibrates the journey of running the business with his strategic leadership.
Hema Nandiraju, who is a co-founder and CHRO, has over 10 years of experience working with rural women’s groups and has created rural exhibits and marketplace models. She now intends to strengthen the last mile for the district segment.
Funding status
Hesa has raised USD 2.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Venture Catalysts. It intends to deploy the subsequent funds to expand its geographic footprints and improve technology while scaling agri-fintech and commerce offerings. Hesa is committed to serving the markets with its superior, cutting-edge technology platform seamlessly.
The sky is the limit
Hesa has reached a monthly gross income of 1.5 million with an annual ARR of 24 million with a growth of 20 percent every month. Traction comes across with 4 service lines, 3400+ SKUs, 52 sub service lines and 30,000+ ‘Hesaathis’ of which 67 percent are active. It has amassed 4 million customers, of which 20 percent are repeat customers, across 5 states and 51 districts, following an average monthly growth of 23 percent and an active user base of 67 percent, as well as the entrepreneurs working to implement Hesa’s ideas across India. With a population of 70 million who have yet to adapt to online shopping, the sky is the limit for Hesa’s growth potential.
