Gold Farm, an online aggregation platform for farm equipment, has received an investment of around ₹13 crore ($2 million) in its new funding round.
The round saw participation from Mahindra and Infuse Ventures. Commenting on the use of this funding, Abhilash Thirupathy, co-founder of Gold Farm, said,
The funds raised are being used for expanding the service across village districts in Karnataka, besides building infrastructure, as well as farmer outreach programmes to expand the availability of farm mechanisation equipment without owning them.
Commenting on this, a spokesperson from Mahindra said:
As market leader in farm mechanisation Mahindra & Mahindra has always pioneered new technologies to benefit farmers around the world… We confirm that we have invested $2 million in agtech startup Gold Farm along with Infuse ventures.
He further said that Mahindra has helped the company to increase the offering of special implements to farmers. They are also trying to tap into Mahindra’s catalogue because they want to access new farming products and make that available to existing base of customers.
Founded in 2012 by Abhilash Thirupathy, the startup is currently catering to around 25,000 farmers residing in village districts in Karnataka. The company says that it connects farmers with other farmers or individuals who lease out farm equipment such as tractors on an hourly basis.