What Samudra Network does

Samudra Network is an Indian agritech company founded around 2017-2018 by Rajiv Bhatia and Sneha Lakshman, headquartered in Bengaluru with a secondary office in Gurgaon. The company builds digitization tools targeted at Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Collective Business Based Organizations (CBBOs), corporates with CSR programs, NGOs, and government agencies operating across the Indian agricultural value chain. Its flagship product, VarunaStar, is a mobile-first, cloud-based SaaS platform that digitizes shareholder management, harvest capture, input calibration, market linkages through an online catalog/marketplace, knowledge dissemination, and business tracking dashboards for FPOs and other agri value chain players. The platform incorporates blockchain-based traceability for origin tracking and AI/ML models for agricultural data analysis and decision support, with the design priority of accessibility for new-to-digital rural users.

VarunaStar is commercialized as a pay-as-you-go SaaS offering, deliberately structured to require low capital investment from resource-constrained FPOs and partner organizations. The go-to-market combines direct enterprise sales with partner/channel distribution, leveraging implementing organizations (CBBOs, Resource Institutions, CSR programs) as deployment vehicles, and is strategically aligned with the Government of India's stated target of creating 10,000 FPOs by 2025. Samudra Network has secured non-dilutive government support including incubation at MANAGE-CIA (Centre for Innovation & Agripreneurship), backing under PM-RKVY, and recognition as a winner of the GOI's StartupIndia Agriculture Grand Challenge in the Farm to Fork (e-marketplace) category in 2019. Notable commercial validations include a 2024 partnership with Lenovo under its Work for Humankind Initiative to digitize the millet value chain in Kanthalloor, Kerala, and a foundational design partnership with Initiatives for Development Foundation (IDF) for initial FPO pilots.

With only 1-10 employees disclosed and no private equity or venture capital rounds in the public record, Samudra Network operates as an early-stage, grant-supported venture whose growth has been funded primarily through government incubation grants rather than institutional capital. The business model is B2B-focused with no direct-to-consumer or self-serve channel, and revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

Samudra Network

Legal name

Samudra Network

Website

https://samudranetwork.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Samudra Network is an Indian agritech company that builds VarunaStar, a mobile-first SaaS platform for digitizing Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and agricultural value chain operations including harvest tracking, market linkages, blockchain-based traceability, and business dashboards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agritech SaaS / FPO Digitization

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) & Farm ERPs (AFAAAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Farm Management & Decision Support Software (FMIS, ERP, Recordkeeping) (AFAGALAA), Farm Data Management & Decision Support Services (FMIS Setup, Data Integration, Analytics) (AFACACAC)

Keywords

• Agritech SaaS platform
• FPO digitization tools
• Agri value chain
• Farm-to-fork traceability
• Farmer producer organizations

Headquarters

HQ city

Bengaluru

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Pay-as-you-go: VarunaStar platform offered as pay-as-you-go Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Organizations need low capital investment to manage and scale operations. Leverages cloud computing technology. Pricing based on usage/service consumption.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Samudra Network provides the VarunaStar platform, a mobile-first, pay-as-you-go SaaS solution that digitizes the agricultural value chain for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), CBBOs, corporates, NGOs, and input/output organizations. It enables shareholder/farmer data management, harvest capture, crop tracking, input calibration, business dashboards, market access via online catalog with marketplace features, and a knowledge hub with automated farmer alerts. The platform leverages Blockchain for traceability and AI/ML for insights, designed for resource-crunched organizations in rural India.

Product overview

Samudra Network offers a unified platform-based product portfolio centered on the VarunaStar Agri Value Chain Digitization Platform, complemented by its FPO Digitization Tools. VarunaStar serves as the core SaaS platform providing comprehensive features including farmer/shareholder management, crop management, input calibration, market access, business dashboards, and knowledge hub with automated alerts. The FPO Digitization Tools provide the mobile-first interface for FPO operations including shareholder data management, share certifications, harvest capture, and buyer linkages. Together, these products form an integrated solution for digitizing agricultural value chains from farm to fork.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VarunaStar: Agri-Value-Digitization Platform offered as Pay-as-you-go SaaS solution for FPOs, CBBOs, Corporates, and other Agri Value Chain players. Features include farmer alerts, crop management, market access via online catalog, knowledge hub, and business monitoring dashboards.

Products and services

• VarunaStar Platform Mobile-first, pay-as-you-go cloud SaaS platform offering automated farmer alerts and insights, crop management for FPOs and farmers, market access via online catalog with marketplace feature, knowledge hub for best practices, and business monitoring dashboards for FPOs, CBBOs, corporates, and other agri value chain players.
• FPO Digitization Tools Mobile-first digitization solution for Farmer Producer Organizations enabling recording of shareholder information, issuing share certifications, capturing harvest details, aggregation management, and buyer connections for farm-to-fork ecosystem operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• FPOs can confirm produce availability within hours vs 48+ hours previously
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• LenovocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Lenovo partnered with Samudra Network under its Work for Humankind Initiative to digitize millet value chain in Kanthalloor, Kerala. Samudra Network provided crop detail tracking, processing operations digitization for quality control, and market catalog creation. First year: 25 farmers cultivating 6 millet varieties in 25 acres, harvested 1,750 kg millets.
• MANAGE (Centre for Innovation & Agripreneurship)coreOthersIncubated at MANAGE-CIA with deep gratitude for knowledge, network and grant support received from the institution and Ministry of Agriculture.
• PM-RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana)coreOthersSupported by PM-RKVY, a government scheme for agricultural development in India.
• Initiatives for Development Foundation (IDF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign and development partner in first pilots to roll out FPO solution. Together ideated on process, improvements and solutions that factor in varied scenarios. Locked down on information required to function at all stakeholder levels.
• Dream India NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit partner in millet revival project at Kanthalloor. CEO Dr Saju mentioned working with Samudra Network and Lenovo on traditional farming practices revival. Goal: increase millet cultivation to 50 acres with 50 farmers.
• VillgrominorOthersIncubation partner for GOI's Agriculture Grand Challenge. Provided mentorship, domain guidance and demo day with Agri Investors.
• KIIT-TBIminorOthersIncubation partner for GOI's Agriculture Grand Challenge. CEO Dr. Mrutyunjay Suar participated in way-forward discussions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cropin: Cropin is an Indian agritech SaaS company offering farm management, traceability and FPO digitization solutions, making it the closest direct competitor to Samudra Network's VarunaStar platform. Both serve FPOs and agri value chain players with digital record-keeping, traceability and data-driven insights.
• DeHaat: DeHaat provides end-to-end agri services to farmers and FPOs including input supply, advisory, market linkages and traceability. Its FPO digitization and farm-to-fork supply chain focus overlaps directly with Samudra's value proposition and target customer segments.
• TraceX Technologies: TraceX offers blockchain-based food and agri supply chain traceability solutions, including FPO onboarding and farm-to-fork provenance. Its blockchain traceability stack and FPO focus directly mirror Samudra's VarunaStar blockchain differentiation.
• Ninjacart: Ninjacart operates a farm-to-fork fresh produce supply chain with significant digitization of farmer onboarding, harvest data and traceability. Its tech-enabled agri value chain directly parallels Samudra's market access and traceability modules for FPOs.
• AgroStar: AgroStar is an Indian agri digital platform providing agronomy advisory, input commerce and farm management tools to smallholder farmers and FPOs. Its farm management and FPO engagement capabilities compete for the same customer base as Samudra Network.
• SourceTrace: SourceTrace is a digital solutions provider for agriculture and rural development, with FPO management, traceability and value chain digitization offerings. Its product portfolio directly overlaps VarunaStar's FPO digitization, traceability and market linkage features.
• Fasal: Fasal provides IoT and AI-based precision agriculture solutions including farm management, crop advisory and data analytics for horticulture farmers and FPOs. Its data-driven farm management positioning overlaps with Samudra's AI/ML-enabled crop insights.

Emerging players

• Bijak: Bijak is an agri commodity marketplace connecting farmers, FPOs and buyers with digital trading and payment tools. Its market linkage and FPO onboarding features compete with Samudra's marketplace and buyer connection capabilities.
• BigHaat: BigHaat is an agri-input digital marketplace serving farmers and FPOs with agronomy advisory and input commerce. Its FPO and farmer-facing digital tools place it as an emerging competitor to Samudra's input calibration and FPO engagement features.
• Intello Labs (now Intello): Intello Labs applies AI and computer vision to agriculture quality assessment and supply chain digitization, overlapping with Samudra's AI/ML and traceability modules at the post-harvest and marketplace stages of the value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/networksamudra
• Facebookfacebook.com/SamudraFPONetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/samudranetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Samudra Network