Pune Inc: From biofertilisers to AI-driven farming, KhetiBuddy is taking Indian agri-tech across Europe, Canada

“That’s when I realised that if I actually built this technology for individual farmers, it would take a long time and we would not be able to reach a large scale,” says Vinay, adding, “If the small agri-input company that my wife was running could solve problems for them, what about large agri-businesses?”

Connecting farm operations with post-harvest supply chains

The solution was to create a larger platform for enterprises. With his technology experience and her deep agronomy knowledge, they created KhetiBuddy, an integrated SaaS (Software as a Service) platform to connect farm operations with post-harvest supply chains and business processes.

Vinay is the founder and chief executive officer of the company, while Richa is its co-founder and chief scientific officer, and entrepreneur Amit Maheshwari, the founding investor and strategic advisor. The strong foundations of the company are based on childhood relationships. Vinay, Richa and Amit were together in school in Ahmedabad.

“Labour shortages and climate-driven uncertainty in yield are pushing agri-businesses to accelerate technology adoption across their farming networks. What is driving real enthusiasm is not just efficiency or the novelty of digital tools, but the emergence of systems grounded in deep agronomy knowledge — platforms that translate field realities into actionable insights, helping agri-businesses support growers, reduce risk, and improve outcomes at scale,” says Richa.

The platform has more than 30 clients among mid-size and large agri-businesses and is scaling internationally, with partnerships in Europe and Canada.

An AI platform too

Now, KhetiBuddy has gone up a notch by moving from a standard Saas platform to Artificial Intelligence (AI). They have launched an AI-powered enterprise software platform, Verdnt. “Verdnt connects farm-level data with business operations, such as procurement, planning, compliance and sustainability. It helps companies get real-time visibility, manage risks better and make smarter decisions using AI, all the while keeping data transparent and auditable,” says Vinay.

One of their largest clients is a winery. “When they actually approached us, one of the challenges was that if they have to produce wine on time, they need to ensure that the grapes are produced on time. It is the same with a potato chips value chain, they have to make sure that the potato harvest will be on time. That production visibility will only come in if there is an integrated system, with end-to-end data linkages,” says Vinay.

The tech is helping farmers who have acres under them. “He doesn’t go to each and every parcel of land every day to look at how his crops are doing. With the help of technology, one of our modules is a sensing model. Through satellite, we can identify which part of the crop might be under stress. We can identify and give indications so that the farmer can take action,” says Vinay.

Maheshwari says that, from an investor’s perspective, this is the right time for KhetiBuddy to expand internationally because the problems we are solving are no longer local in nature. “Fragmented agri value chains, lack of real-time data, traceability gaps, and inefficiencies between farm, market, and enterprise exist across emerging and developed economies alike,” he says.

India has been a strong proving ground for the product, allowing the team to stress-test the platform in one of the most complex agricultural ecosystems in the world. “That learning curve gives us a natural advantage when entering international markets that are now actively looking for scalable, tech-enabled agri solutions,” he adds.

“My decision to back international expansion is driven by conviction in the core problem, the adaptability of the platform, and the opportunity to build a globally relevant agri-tech company from India, rather than limiting ourselves to a single geography,” says Maheshwari.