Empowering Farmers Through Technology: An Interview with the Founder of GrainAnalyser
In the ever-evolving field of agriculture, innovation is key to addressing the challenges faced by farmers and the industry at large. Today, we explore the journey of an entrepreneur who has dedicated nearly two decades to improving the agribusiness landscape. Starting from his roots in Bathinda and drawing from a wealth of experience in rural banking, warehousing and agricultural technology, Mr. Amanpreet Singh has embarked on a mission to revolutionize grain quality and price discovery. Together with his wife, who plays a crucial role in their business, Amanpreet has started ‘GrainAnalyser’, venture designed to improve the economic prospects of farmers through advanced, portable and efficient solutions. Their journey, marked by challenges and milestones, reflects a deep commitment to enhancing the agricultural sector.
Tell us something about yourself, your family and your educational background?
I’ve been born and brought up at Bathinda with Primary, College and University education from the same town. I’m staying with my parents since 2017 while working for a few years in Chandigarh and Gurugram. My Souse Kawalpreet Kaur also one of my Partner in GrainAnalyser and Director in our other entity runs the daily chores of the house and family and my Son is 12 years old and currently pursuing schooling.
What motivated you to start this business?
I’ve been in the Agribusiness and value chain since 2005 with Rural Banking, Warehousing, Trade facilitation and Agriculture technology it seemed clear that this venture is the way to go and in Covid when I parted ways with AgNext I registered my own firm to nurture my vast experience.
Did your family support your business idea? Are they involved in any way?
As stated above my wife is equal share partner in GrainAnalyser and also a Director in another entity, she’s passively involved in the daily chores of the firm but all major decisions are jointly agreed upon. As a spouse and a partner, I always made it a point to make her understand the nuances of the business.
What specific problem or need does your startup aim to address?
Our country and major developing economies are facing a major challenge in addressing economic upliftment of the Farmers fraternity which seems possible through better inputs and output practices. For GrainAnalyser, my consulting experiences with few Agtech firms in Quality, Sorting, Farmer orientation and Marketplace models made it clear that creating solutions to address quality concerns will enable Digital traces and lead to a fair Price discovery for the Farmer and FPO’s.
What makes your startup’s solution or innovation unique?
Our experience has taught us the nuances of this business model, it’s very tough to survive and has a longer gestation period. So, novel solutions can only create a niche and deliver in this market. For us imbibing Portability, repeatability and Farmgate adherence were the core areas of concern to be addressed and that’s paying off.
What challenges did you encounter in the early stages and how did you overcome them?
Gestation period: Clients are being bombarded with new solutions across the Globe, so they take a longer time through Field trials to make a commercial decision regarding a solution. This needs a Startup to be ready with some Inventory investment.
Adherences: The major challenge we face in the market is acceptability of any solution offering to replace the current mechanism which has a lot of loopholes on the trade. So, the trade to accept your solution two-pronged approach is required to push solutions through buyers and sellers of the grains.
Lack of Capital: Capital is required for Manpower deployment, Promotional events, Customisation requests and participating in Bidding for Government tenders.
What strategies do you have for scaling your operations or reaching a broader audience?
Industrial solutions: Our solutions need to focus on industrial clientele and for that we need changes in design and training models accordingly.
Price variability: A low-cost solution for entering the market with limited scans and a high-end solution for unlimited scans, new models of grains and customisation.
Have you established any partnerships or collaborations to boost your company’s impact both nationally and internationally?
Yes, we regularly have collaboration and associations to offer new solutions, service support and offer solutions through few associations too.
What milestones have you reached since starting your business?
Our social media posts have created a very large response rates in the last 18 months which has created a recall value aiding us to reach new set of clients.
Our efforts have got recognised through few rewards and accolades over last two years from FICCI, Just Agriculture, ISASTR etc.
What are your future goals for the startup and where do you envision it in the next five years?
Creating a larger reach through our Physical testing solutions for Foodgrains. Currently we’ve tested this with about 35-40 FPO’s and they’re keen to buy.
Focus on Research in Spectroscopy to create solutions for Mycotoxins in Cereals and Grains and develop Mustard testing solution as this segment has witnessed growth over last three years.
How have you managed the funding for your business? Did you receive support from any incubators?
We were surviving on self-funded/bootstrapped till December 2023 when we got Grant in Aid by ICAR-PUSA Krishi of Rs. 25.00 Lacs.
Do you have any message for our readers?
Agriculture in backbone of our economy and it needs insurmountable support in research, adaptation and rollout to keep growing.
