Agri-finance startup ONO has raised $1.2 million in a pre-Series A funding round. Aeravti Ventures led the round with support from angel investors and Tremis Capital.
This marks the second investment by Aeravti Ventures in ONO. The venture firm also led the startup’s earlier seed funding round.
ONO builds a data and AI-powered platform for India’s post-harvest agricultural supply chain. The company focuses on better credit access, smoother trade operations, and stronger market connections for agri small and medium enterprises across the country.
Founders Rama Rao Kancharapu and David Pokuri started the company with a goal to solve deep problems within agricultural trade and finance.
The fresh capital will help ONO scale lending operations, improve market infrastructure, and strengthen its presence across India.
ONO Focuses on India’s Post-Harvest Supply Chain
India’s agricultural supply chain still faces major gaps, especially after harvest. Farmers, traders, transporters, and commission agents often struggle with weak networks, poor data access, and limited formal financing options.
Many deals happen across long distances between people who may not know each other. This creates trust issues, delays, fraud risks, and payment problems.
ONO aims to solve these issues through technology and real-time market intelligence.
The startup has built a platform that tracks pricing, trade volumes, logistics, and market trends across the agricultural ecosystem. This system helps users make faster and smarter business decisions.
The platform also supports faster payments, better price discovery, and lower transaction risk for supply chain participants.
ONO Uses Data and AI to Build Trust
ONO places data and artificial intelligence at the center of its platform. The company wants to create a trusted network for agricultural trade across India.
The startup gives farmers and agri-SMEs better visibility into market conditions. Users can check price trends, buyer demand, transport movement, and supply chain activity through the platform.
This information helps businesses plan sales more efficiently and reduce losses.
The company also helps lenders assess credit risk more accurately. Traditional agricultural lending often depends on limited records and manual checks. ONO brings structured data into this process, which allows faster and fairer lending decisions.
According to CEO Rama Rao Kancharapu, the agricultural supply chain still suffers from major inefficiencies because of poor data systems, weak trusted networks, and delayed access to finance.
He said ONO wants to build a technology and intelligence layer for the post-harvest ecosystem that allows stakeholders to make smarter and more reliable decisions while also improving access to fair credit.
ONO Expands Lending and Credit Access
Credit access remains one of the biggest problems for agri businesses in India. Small traders and farmers often struggle to secure working capital quickly.
ONO has focused heavily on solving this issue through co-lending partnerships and financial infrastructure.
The startup claims it has already facilitated over Rs 100 crore in co-lending. The company also maintains a non-performing asset ratio of just 0.05%, which compares strongly with standard agricultural lending benchmarks.
This low default ratio reflects the company’s focus on data-led risk assessment and supply chain intelligence.
The startup recently acquired a significant stake in a non-banking financial company. This move will allow ONO to deepen its lending operations and offer direct credit support to underserved agri-SMEs.
The company now plans to expand these lending capabilities further across India.
ONO Works to Reduce Fraud in Agricultural Trade
Long-distance agricultural trade often carries high risk. Goods and payments move across hundreds of kilometres between unknown buyers and sellers.
This system creates fraud risks, delayed payments, and defaults.
ONO works to reduce these problems through verified trade networks, market intelligence, and structured transaction systems.
The platform helps users verify counterparties before deals take place. It also improves visibility across transport and payment processes.
This setup helps traders and buyers operate with more confidence during long-haul transactions.
The startup believes stronger trust systems can improve efficiency and encourage more formal financial participation across agricultural markets.
ONO Builds Strong Presence Across India
ONO has already built a large footprint across India’s agricultural ecosystem.
The company now operates in 12 states and more than 125 districts. It serves over 1.3 lakh ecosystem participants, including farmers, traders, commission agents, transporters, and buyers.
The platform also has more than 2,000 paid subscribers.
ONO claims it has facilitated over Rs 200 crore in beneficiary payouts. The startup has also supported the movement of more than 25,000 metric tonnes of produce through long-distance markets.
Many of these transactions covered distances of more than 500 kilometres.
This scale highlights growing demand for technology-led agricultural trade systems in India.
Aeravti Ventures Sees Long-Term Potential
Aeravti Ventures has shown strong confidence in ONO’s long-term vision and execution ability.
Rishabh Singh, Managing Partner at Aeravti Ventures, said ONO addresses one of the most important infrastructure gaps within Indian agriculture.
He added that the company builds trust, transparency, and financial accessibility across post-harvest supply chains through data and AI.
According to Singh, ONO’s approach strongly matches the investment thesis of Aeravti Ventures.
The venture firm has supported the startup since its seed stage and continues to back the company’s growth plans.
ONO Prepares for Larger Expansion
ONO now plans the next stage of growth after this latest funding round.
The company aims to strengthen lending operations, improve financial infrastructure, and expand market access for agri-SMEs across India.
The startup is also preparing for a larger Series A funding round as it scales operations further.
India’s agricultural ecosystem continues to face deep structural problems around finance, logistics, trust, and market access. ONO wants to solve these challenges through technology, data, and AI-powered systems.
With fresh funding, growing scale, and strong investor support, the company now holds a stronger position in India’s agri-finance sector.
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