ASSIGNMENT ON AGRICULTURE STARTUP

EM3 AGRISERVICES
SUBMITTED BY: AAUSHI SHARMA,PGP-FABM 2019-21, IIM AHMEDABAD
ROLL NO:2019002

Inception:
EM3 Agriservices began its operations in July 2014 with the idea of Farming as a Service
(FaaS) “Pay for use” basis in farm mechanisation. It was the brainchild of Rohtash Mal and
cofounder Adwitiya Mal. Rohtash Mal had an earlier stint with the corporate industry in the
farm equipment business and he knew that this is a capital intensive business. At EM3
agricultural productivity is increased by bringing technology, global innovations &
mechanization for the farming community on a Pay-for-Use basis.(www.em3agri.com,
2016).Basically this model is “Uberisation” of farm services. This approach deepens the
impact on farm viability. EM3 is harnessing the power of information technology and mobile
telecom services, financial services etc. to integrate and strengthen the value proposition.
(www.em3agri.com, 2016)
Idea:
India is an agrarian economy. More than 70 percent of the population is dependent on
agriculture. About 85% of the total farmers are small and marginal farmers in India who have
less than 2 hectares of land. So it is difficult for them to operate large farm machinery like
tractors, combine harvestors and other farm implements on a small land size. Also if they
purchase equipments, it is usually on a loan or credit basis. A small farm area does not give
much returns and usually farmers are not able to payback the loans. So this model caters to the
need of all the farmers who cannot own the large machinery and also for the big farmers who
can rent out their machinery for additional income on a sharing service basis.
Fundings:

EM3 got its first round of funding from Aspada Investments of $3.3 Million Series A in 2015.
EM3 Agri Services second funding round was a Series B for $10M in Aug 2017 from London-
based non-profit Global Innovation Fund. (Kashyap, https://yourstory.com/2017/08/agritech-
startup-em3-grabs-10-million-funding, 2017).It is a global innovation fund backed by the
governments of US, UK, Sweden and Australia, while Aspada, anchored by Soros Economic
Development Fund, is an investor in supply chains, logistics, education, agriculture and
healthcare.

Business Model:

Samadhan - FaaS (Farming as a Service) creates a platform that enables innovation and
technology to reach the farmer and the farm in an efficient, effective and affordable manner
through a network of farm centres called as Samadhan Kendras. (em3agriservices.com).Each
centre, managed through information technology IT enabled systems and managed by agri-
professionals, is equipped to handle a comprehensive basic and precision farm operations
throughout the entire value chain cycle. (em3agriservices.com)
Operations:

EM3 Agri services operates under the name Samadhan in Madhya Pradesh. It offers farm
equipments like laser land leveller, deep and shallow ploughing equipments and power harrows
for making seed beds to farmers on rent. (Goyal, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-
biz/startups/how-startup-em3-agri-services-is-tackling-farmers-distress-the-uber-
way/articleshow/53133968.cms).It also provides big machinery like combine harvestors to
farmers on a rental basic on an hourly or a per acre basis. Since the operators are well trained
to use such equipments, it becomes imperative for farmers to go for modern technology in an
effective way. The company has signed an agreement with the government of Rajasthan to
expand its services in the state. The company is planning to set up Samadhan Kendras which
maintain the equipment and work as customer stores across the state. (Malik,
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/dHKNuRXP0iWEI2iGRVCOFJ/Agritech-startup-
EM3-Agri-Services-raises-10-million.html, 2017)

It covers the entire value chain cycle for the farmers. Whatever operations the farmer needs to
carry out, EM3 does it with machines that are owned by this startup, and operators that are on
EM3’s payroll. Value Chain services go all the way from soil preparation, seeding, planting,
crop protection to harvesting. Whatever the farmer needs across the crop cycle EM3 provides.
(em3agriservices.com)The firm hires and trains workers, local village operators who manage
the equipment and carry out the services on the farm. This enables to create employment for
local level workers who are trained and sent on trainings. The bulk of the back-end process,
which is taken care of by its engineering and support team in Noida, is engaged in mapping out
usage patterns and optimizes costs of equipment and personnel. (em3agriservices.com)

EM3 focusses on quality, assurance and convenience. Every machine & operators on the
Samadhan platform go through rigorous procedure of selection & training for highest level of
quality and delivery to the clients. Farmer can easily book his services in a variety of ways like
through call, app and toll free numbers and can easily monitor the work being done on his field
according to his needs and thus manage all his transactions easily.

It focusses on all the operations in the value chain like Land Preparation and seedbed
preparation, sowing/transplanting, Crop management, pest management, Harvesting and post
harvest management.

Also it is trying to partner up with bigwig corporates like ITC, John Deere and McCain to
increase its operations and delivery for Farming as a service,

EM3 Agriservices was generating average monthly sales of Rs. 1 crore and is transcending
to a marketplace model by partnering with local farmers willing to contribute their machines
to the platform. The company’s access to farm level data through its operations places it in a
unique position to become a leader in the farm mechanisation rental business sector. (Malik,
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/dHKNuRXP0iWEI2iGRVCOFJ/Agritech-startup-
EM3-Agri-Services-raises-10-million.html, 2017)

EM3 Agri services offers its services under the name ‘Samadhan’ in Madhya Pradesh and is
thinking on the process of setting up its franchise model in state and Rajasthan to bring its
solutions to every step of the value chain process from soil preparation to harvest. EM3's pay
for use affordable, effective, transparent, efficient and on-demand model, enables farmers to
deploy the latest global mechanisation technology without any investments in the asset . Over
the last two years, EM3 AgriServices has emerged as a leading independent farm services
player in India offering farm mechanisation rental business solutions improving the value
chain.

Challenges:

Major challenges would be to scaling up the operations and making the farmers aware about
such services at their disposal which can augment in their increase in farm incomes. Also
different competitors like Raavgo, Kheti Gaadi are also working on similar models which could
prove to be a competition in the long run. It needs to be seen how these startups increase their
value proposition and transform the agrarian community.

References:
1. (www.em3agri.com, 2016)
2. (Kashyap, https://yourstory.com/2017/08/agritech-startup-em3-grabs-10-million-funding,
2017)
3. (Goyal, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/how-startup-em3-agri-
services-is-tackling-farmers-distress-the-uber-way/articleshow/53133968.cms, 2016)
4. (Malik, https://www.livemint.com/Companies/dHKNuRXP0iWEI2iGRVCOFJ/Agritech-
startup-EM3-Agri-Services-raises-10-million.html, 2017)