Meet the individual who faced five setbacks before establishing a company worth 6700 crores.
- Originally from Tamil Nadu, Thirukumaran Nagarajan encountered numerous failures throughout his journey. He ventured into five startups, ranging from a location-based social startup to a biryani center, but struggled to scale any of them. With only Rs 500 left, he relocated to Bangalore and secured a job at TaxiForSure.
- Following the acquisition of TaxiForSure by Ola in 2015, Thiru sought new opportunities. Collaborating with five friends, he embarked on a new venture. As the acquisition unfolded, Thiru spearheaded an agritech startup alongside his friends, giving birth to Ninjacart in June 2015.
- The concept was straightforward: offer groceries in a hyperlocal format. Thiru developed an app to facilitate direct sales from local Kirana stores to end customers. However, upon witnessing initial outcomes, he realized the need to pivot the model to provide added value beyond mere discounts.
- Recognizing the potential to assist supermarkets and Kirana stores in sourcing fresh produce directly from farmers and brands at competitive prices, Thiru revamped Ninjacart’s model in December 2015, resulting in significant changes.
- Within a short span, Ninjacart rapidly expanded, processing 15 tons of fruits and vegetables daily for over 120 retailers. A staggering 98% of them became daily customers, leading to a successful funding round of 20 crores led by Accel in March 2016.
- Ninjacart continued its growth trajectory, empowering over 100 farmers to sell a diverse range of produce to more than 500 retailers and restaurants in Bangalore. By April 2017, it had secured another 37 crores in funding, leading to expansion into Hyderabad and Chennai.
- By the end of 2018, Ninjacart had grown its network to include over 3000 farmers, facilitating the movement of fresh produce to over 4000 retailers within 12 hours. With a 15% increase in revenue for farmers, it expanded to seven cities and transacted 1400 tonnes of produce daily, securing a funding round of 221 crores led by Syngenta Ventures.
- Leveraging its proprietary farmer harvest calendar, Ninjacart expanded its reach to 13,500 farmers across 20 states, serving 17,000 retail outlets and restaurants in seven cities. In April 2019, it secured a monumental funding round of 699 crores from Tiger Global.
- On December 13, 2021, Ninjacart secured a whopping 1095 crores from US retail giant Walmart and its Indian counterpart, Flipkart, propelling it to a valuation of 6000 crores.
Today, Ninjacart collaborates with 800,000 farmers and 100,000 retailers across 120 locations in India. Valued at 6700 crores, it recently allocated 100 crores to its employees in recognition of their contributions. Thirukumaran Nagarajan’s journey from arriving in Bangalore with just Rs 500 to sleeping in overnight camps in Karnataka’s vegetable markets serves as a testament to perseverance and inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs.