Leasing of farms. Mentor and seed captial required!

By Binal Joshi on February 16, 2016 11 Comments / 4059 views

I am starting up with a venture called Transfarm India where the aim is to lease conventional (read chemical) farms into organic, natural farms.

The actual transformation of the farm will be done by a successful organic farmer who wants to scale up. So, with 60:40 financial investment by Transfarm India and Successful farmer (hereafter called Transfarmer), the Tranfarmer has to replicate his farm model in the leased farm with 50:50 share in profits. Leasing will be done across different geographies to spread the climatic risk. The value addition by Tranfarm India will be as follows:

1. Curating and hand-picking the organic farmer who is both entrepreneurial and doesn’t compromise on organic farming practices. Due diligence will be done to select the farmer who would be a right fit for the company based on on 3 factors viz. how strong is the organic/natural farming foundation, how commercially profitable it is and “X” factor which is the connect, trust with the farmer, etc

2. Restoring the soil health and ecological balance of the leased farm

3. Demonstrating a commercially viable organic farm to the farmer whose farm is leased. After the lease period, he may continue with the organic farm model. Moreover, if the conventional farmer whose farm is leased is in debt, he can start repaying with the lease rent.

4. Eventually, providing market linkages to the farmers by branding and marketing the farm produce in the urban areas.

Following are my questions:

1. How to get a mentor for the above idea who can give time in fine-tuning the business plan?

2. How to get seed funding?

3. Do VCs ask for business plan or should the pitch deck suffice?

Thanks,

Binal Joshi

binal@transfarmindia.in

Mobile:9821526878

Twitter handle: @beingbinal

Comments

Binal Joshi

11 Comments

asha chaudhry February 17, 2016, 8:44 am

very interesting ASK binal!

where are you located btw?

i love the brandname TRANSFARM – a big winner!

i’m a huge fan of organic – yours’ sounds like an ambitious project – all the best!

i’m sharing links YOU MUST GO THROUGH….

alok’s funding pitch template to use!

https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/a-ready-to-use-template-for-pitching-your-business-for-funding

99 questions an investor will ask

https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/99-questions-every-investor-will-ask-especially-a-vc

more on funding

https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/how-to-get-funded-when-over-200-people-asked-in-unison

https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/basic-funding-concepts-for-entrepreneurs

abhinav’s biz plan template!

https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/business-plan-template-free-download
asha chaudhry February 17, 2016, 8:45 am

ps: let’s see if you can find a mentor right here on trh!!!
Binal Joshi February 17, 2016, 9:41 am

Hi Asha,

Thank you for the encouraging words. I am based in Thane (suburb of Mumbai). It would be great to connect with ones who believe in compassionate capitalism (sorry to sound utopian but I believe that would be the right approach for this venture). Keeping my fingers crossed. Btw, is business plan mandatory for funding or is pitch deck sufficient for presenting to the VCs?
Deeti Dave February 17, 2016, 2:12 pm

Interesting concept Binal!

for creating biz plan / pitch deck, can help you with inputs / feedback.

you can reach me at deeti@nxsmartsolutions.com , would be happy to help.
vijay amin February 19, 2016, 5:40 pm

One of my friend is into similar kind of business. He has already raised some seed funds.

You can connect with him Mr. Sanjeev Pithadia

Email. Sanjeev@pithadia.com

Mob : 9821366717

I have already shared your post with him
Binal Joshi February 20, 2016, 3:36 pm

Thank you Deeti and Vijay for your support… Means a lot for a start-up like mine.
Nitin Rajda February 21, 2016, 7:19 am

Hello Binal. Very good idea.

Would like to discuss and understand more.

I am a Senior Finance Professional based at Muscat, Oman (originally native of Mumbai) and am actively looking for ideas/ventures for investment.

Please connect with me on email nrajda1@yahoo.com; skype nrajda1

Look forward for further discussion.

BR Nitin
Binal Joshi February 21, 2016, 1:59 pm

Hello Nitin. I shall send across the business idea in greater detail by email. Thank you for your interest.

-Binal Joshi
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal February 21, 2016, 4:58 pm

Questions:

– What’s your background?

– What’s the business model? Say I am a farmer. How can I just believe you? What happens if you mess up?

– Why will VCs fund FARMING? How can this scale via tech or business processing? Which is the last funding you heard in farming?

– This most (sorry) annoying question is “How to get a mentor for the above idea who can give time in fine-tuning the business plan?”

???

You are the entrepreneur right? You haven’t even begun! What’s the mentor for?

Please make a real business CASE STUDY. Transfarm even 100 sq feet and use that as the pitch.

Grow a Potato or Tomtato on it and take that to Investors as proof of what you have achieved.
vijay amin February 21, 2016, 5:22 pm

Check this link https://yourstory.com/2016/01/sv-agri-potato/
Binal Joshi February 22, 2016, 6:20 am

Alok Sir, in the heart of my hearts I am elated to have received a reply to the Ask post, although for the wrong reasons : ) It has made my day!!! I have attempted to answer your questions with the hope that I don’t ruffle more feathers..A pre-paid sorry for the same…

– What’s your background?

Last one year learned the ropes of natural farming from seasoned natural farmers like Padma Shri Subhash Palekar, Bhaskar Saveji (Gandhian of natural farming), etc, followed by visits and stay in various farms. Besides, have helmed marketing for export house for a year and bagged new customers for pomegranates, okra, etc in the form of supermarkets of Thailand, Singapore, UK, etc

Prior to this, I owned a boutique travel agency (nook n corner tours) and interned with social organisations like UN and SEWA (self employed women’s association).

– What’s the business model? Say I am a farmer. How can I just believe you? What happens if you mess up?

The Business model is as follows:

•The actual transformation of the farm will be done by a successful farmer practicing natural farming (hereafter called Transfarmer), who would be handpicked by Transfarm India

•With 60:40 financial investment by Transfarm India and the Transfarmer respectively, the Transfarmer has to replicate his farm model in the leased farm with 50:50 share in profits.

As a farmer who has leased his land to Transfarm India and Transfarmer, he gets monthly lease rental alongwith a rejuvenated land at the end of the lease period and a live demonstration of the farm model which he could replicate.

– Why will VCs fund FARMING? How can this scale via tech or business processing? Which is the last funding you heard in farming?

This model can be scaled up in different geographies to mitigate climatic risk. It would be like putting eggs in different basket. On the supply chain front, eventually forward integration will be done to get better rate for the produce. Not sure how tech will be leveraged in this model though.

– This most (sorry) annoying question is “How to get a mentor for the above idea who can give time in fine-tuning the business plan?”

Wrong question. Would take the plunge and ask for help !

Once again thank you for your time.