From India to the World: Ninja Tech Ventures is Powering Agri Startups with Cutting-Edge Supply Chain Technology

In this blog, explore our conversation with Kartheeswaran KK, CEO and Co-Founder of Ninjacart, as he shares insights into the pioneering landscape of Ninja Tech Ventures—the strategic tech investment arm of Ninjacart.

Backed by Walmart and Tiger Global, Ninjacart is India’s largest and most pioneering agritech startup, leveraging technology to transform the agri-supply chain for fresh fruits and vegetables. For nearly a decade, Ninjacart has been dedicated to reshaping the agri ecosystem, developing innovative products and services that empower diverse customer segments to grow across the value chain while addressing complex supply chain challenges in the soil-to-sales journey.

Established to address the inefficiencies in the global agri-supply chain, Ninja Tech Ventures harnesses the success of Ninjacart’s transformative tech platform to offer scalable solutions for early-stage agri-tech startups. 

Kartheeswaran shares insights into how Ninja Tech Ventures is not only tackling bottlenecks in the supply chain but also paving the way for a new wave of innovation in agri-tech.

Q1: Could you elaborate on the genesis of Ninja Tech Ventures and the strategic vision that led to its creation? How is Ninja Tech Ventures addressing bottlenecks in the global agri-supply chain ecosystem?

Answer: Ninja Tech Ventures is the strategic tech investment arm of Ninjacart, which is dedicated to investing in like-minded agri-startups worldwide. Ninja Tech Ventures’ mission is to disrupt supply and distribution landscapes in various geographies by solving global supply chain inefficiencies through advanced technology.

Ninja Tech Ventures is deeply rooted in the challenges we at Ninjacart faced within India’s fragmented food and vegetable (FnV) market. Unlike most consolidated markets like the US, where large players such as Walmart streamline the supply chain, India’s FnV sector is characterized by a myriad of nodes and inefficiencies. When we launched Ninjacart in 2015, we encountered significant obstacles in scaling operations and optimizing the supply chain across this complex ecosystem.

Over time, we developed a comprehensive tech platform specifically designed to tackle these inefficiencies. This platform proved highly effective, reducing food waste and improving supply chain efficiency, allowing us to fulfill 15 million orders, manage over 1,500 tonnes of produce daily across more than 200 warehouses. Our success highlighted a critical gap in the market—an opportunity to support early-stage startups in the agricultural sector by providing them with proven, customisable, plug-and-play technology stack and advisory services.

Inspired by this realization, we established Ninja Tech Ventures to leverage our experience over nine years and technology to address similar challenges on a global scale, offering comprehensive tech enabled end-to-end automated, and paperless supply chain solutions. Our engagement model includes strategic investments and partnerships, where we provide technology, advisory services and access to our extensive investor network to fast-track startups’ growth and profitability. 

Q2: Early-stage startups often encounter significant challenges in emerging markets. How does Ninja Tech Ventures address these obstacles, and what advantages do its technological solutions provide?

Answer: Our engagement model is simple but not a one size fits all approach. As part of this initiative, we engage with both global and domestic companies, tailoring our engagement model to fit the unique needs of each.

1. Licensing Technology Solutions: We license our cutting-edge technology to partners, offering perpetual access to systems that streamline their operations and boost efficiency.
2. Advisory & Consulting Services: Beyond technology, we offer strategic guidance. We help our partners navigate the complexities of the agricultural supply chain, lending ecosystems, marketplaces, domestic and global trade.
3. Investor Network & Community Building: By joining a partner’s cap table, we open doors to investor networks, helping guide them on the nuances of fundraising. Beyond individual partnerships, Ninja Tech Ventures is committed to building a global community of agri-tech startups. We are building a network of founders and investors who can help create a first of its kind global agri community enabling cross-border trade, technology and best practices. 

At Ninja Tech Ventures, we harness a cutting-edge Supply Chain Management (SCM) platform built on the success of Ninjacart. Ninja Tech Ventures tech platform offers a suite of tailored solutions curated to accelerate a startup’s success in the food industry which includes:

1. 1. Procurement Module- Enabling procurement function to onboard new farmers/ vendors and manage end to end procurement
   2. Inventory & Operations Module- Enabling the on-ground workforce (facility) to receive, manage and dispatch inventory efficiently with a mobile warehouse
   3. Sales Force Automation– Enabling a lean team of on-field sales executives to acquire customers, manage customer relationships and sales target
   4. Distribution & Logistics Module- Enabling distribution centre executives to process inventory, dispatch customer orders, and manage cash with mobile DMS, Point-of-sales (PoS) and route planner systems
   5. Last Mile Delivery (Driver) Module- Enabling last mile drivers to deliver to customers the right inventory, on time, as well as enable cash collections, handles customer returns, and manage stock excess & assets
   6. Order Management- Enabling customers to place, track and manage orders and account info (profile, digital wallet) with their preferred timeslots & customizations
   7. Internal Audit- Enabling businesses to assess the performance of different processes and resolve non compliance, fraud, and security branches
   8. Central ERP- Enabling teams to track inventory end to end, maintain quality assurance, monitor supply chain operations 24*7 and prevent wastage or pilferage
   9. Planning and Forecasting: Enabling category and planning functions plan for sourcing avenues, design an operational framework based on sales projections and analyze market trends to ensure optimum demand supply linkage

Q3: What qualities or characteristics define the ideal partners or startups Ninja Tech Ventures seeks to collaborate with?

Answer: At Ninja Tech Ventures, we partner with startups that are transforming the food supply chain—specifically, those focused on farm-to-fork solutions, e-grocery, and retail (modern and general trade). We already work with pioneering farm-to-fork startups across LATAM and SEA. 

Our areas of focus:

1. Farm-to-Fork: These startups are streamlining the agricultural value chain by aggregating produce directly at the source from farmers. They hold inventory to ensure availability and quality, then establish strong market linkages that connect end customers, retailers, and HoReCa businesses. This approach ensures that fresh produce moves efficiently from farms to the market, optimizing supply chains. Today we work with over 2 million farmers, enhancing their business avenues with Ninjacart’s network in over 250 villages and towns in India, guaranteeing them the best prices and timely payments
2. E-Grocery & Retail: Startups that are transforming the retail space by leveraging technology to optimize everything from inventory management to last-mile delivery, and everything in between. Ninjacart deals with over 200+ brands, 90+ SKU categories and subcategories domestically

Q4: Who are your current partners?

Answer: The success of Ninjacart’s Ninja Tech Ventures platform ecosystem is evident through its partnerships with Arado and Mayani. Both collaborations have achieved notable success, with Arado revolutionising the agricultural supply chain in Brazil and Mayani improving market access and sustainability for smallholder farmers and fisherfolk in the Philippines.

Q5: Looking ahead, what is the long-term vision for Ninja Tech Ventures, and how does it align with Ninjacart’s broader mission of transforming global agri-supply chains?

Answer: At Ninja Tech Ventures, the goal is to transform the global agri-supply chain by leveraging Ninjacart’s advanced technology, refined over nine years. The vision is to empower startups with a proven, scalable solution that fuels their growth and success. The company is committed to creating substantial value for all stakeholders by identifying each partner’s North Star metric—critical business goals—and aligning operations and strategies to drive profitability and foster growth.

Furthermore, Ninja Tech Ventures is dedicated to cultivating a global ecosystem of agri-tech startups and investors. This involves promoting cross-border trade, facilitating technology sharing, and implementing best practices across diverse markets. Ninja Tech Ventures aims to harness the network effect by encouraging partners to onboard their network of buyers and sellers onto the Ninjacart platform. This strategy creates cross-border trade opportunities, not only between India and the world but also facilitating direct trade among all member countries. By building this interconnected network, Ninja Tech Ventures enhances collaboration and market access, further driving the transformation of global agri-supply chains.