Arado; A platform to create a network of farmers

In the series of articles that introduce Startup agricultural sector, we tried to identify a problem in this industry in each article and the solutions provided by startups to solve these problems Business To be determined.

Another problem in traditional agriculture is information asymmetry. This problem exists in different parts of this industry. Farmers’ lack of knowledge about the purchasing centers of inputs and their prices, and on the other hand, the knowledge of the sellers of these inputs about the market situation, as well as the lack of knowledge of the large factories of conversion industries about the cultivated area of ​​agricultural land in different regions of the country, in contrast to the knowledge of middlemen from The cultivation status of some areas are only examples of the lack of recognition of the members of this ecosystem.

Arado startup, whose members were involved with this problem in another project, found the idea of ​​forming this startup in a suitable solution for this problem and presented an application for it. In the following, we invite you to read the interview with Irfan Mirtalebi, the co-founder of this startup.

First, introduce Arado.

I am Erfan Mirtalebi, the manager of Arado startup. Before starting work at Arado startup, I worked in several startups in the fields of clothing, automobiles and task managing. In the years before that, we sold different business models in the form of software to government organizations. Startup Arado is a platform for providing services in the field of agriculture. We are from the sales department and Marketing We started our work with agricultural products rather than products agriculture Marketing, marketing and marketing in a specialized way. In this way, the farmer introduces the type and price of the product and we deliver it to the market at a favorable price, which, due to the elimination of middlemen, in this case, more money reaches the farmer.

What is Arado’s revenue model?

We receive a fee for each transaction; In some transactions, if our output is higher than the number announced by the farmer, we receive a percentage in the form of excess, which is 5-6% at the end. On the other hand, we provide inputs, human power, machinery and equipment to the farmer; In order to deliver inputs with higher performance, we have collected information and entered into contracts with companies and producers so that we can measure the output performance of products and the satisfaction of farmers.

How many users do you have?

About 1500 farmers and 600 factories and buyers are members in our buying and selling area. Last month, we created 187 sales opportunities and had about 400-500 million turnover, but because we are in the initial phase, this work has not been very profitable.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​Arado?

Our upstream company signed a contract to build a modern agricultural settlement. But in the study phase, we noticed the lack of proper access to farmers and ordering the desired product for entering the settlement. To solve this problem, a collective software system was needed, which was basically a kind of virtual simulation of the town. In better words, it can be said that at the beginning we realized that access to farmers is not possible and we must first shape the settlement in the form of a startup, and in this direction, Arado was formed; At first, we started the activity by guaranteeing farmers’ sales market in order to win the trust of farmers and gradually shape the system.

What are the characteristics and functions of the modern agricultural settlement?

In these settlements, there are specific entrances and exits; In this way, factories of conversion industries enter it with diverse production lines, and outputs different from inputs are created. In the next step, you must be able to teach this conversion; For example, you can multiply the harvest with training in the direction of proper plant nutrition and other tips, of course, these trainings are in the next stages of our programs; Because currently this issue is not the concern of farmers. In the third stage, you must have the ability to manage that farm; In this way, we decided to create a startup and launch a virtual settlement, so that after that, if needed, we will start a physical settlement after that.

Do you have domestic competitors? How about a foreign sample?

Our competitors are divided into several categories, some of them are single products and have a specific market; Some others are multi-product and B2C; But our target market B2B and we are also multi-product. Some of our competitors are big middlemen themselves; But on the Arado platform, the farmer can sell his product to the broker at any time and still be in touch with us. We market the products to the farmer so that the farmer gets a direct benefit if he cooperates with us. It is very difficult to gain the market in this type of business and to win the trust of farmers, and in this regard, we used solutions to increase the speed of growth, and the same thing happened, because all businesses in this field must follow this trend. to reach this stage of growth, so we don’t have to worry about domestic competitors. There are many foreign examples in this field in the world, the most famous of which is the startup “Mika” that operates in China.

What are your plans for the development of your product?

We have decided to create new markets and market development in the field of dry products such as: rice, beans, etc., and we are testing a new model called “aggregate sales” during which we sell products collectively to buyers who are close to each other. , we sell

How many members are there in the Arado team?

Our team members include 10 people directly and the majority of them are graduates or active in the field of agriculture. Except for myself and Mr. Moghadam, who work in the field of IT affairs, the technical team also has expertise in the field of IT.

When was the initial version of Arado launched?

The production of the initial version of the site platform started in January of last year and ended in March. But the product was seriously launched in April this year.

Have you attracted investors?

Yes. We are in a round investor We attracted a person or an angel. For the next round, despite the offers we had from other investors, we will probably cooperate with the previous investor.

What methods have you used to enter the market?

In order to enter the market, we tried 10 to 15 different methods, and we got answers from 5 of them. Also, we have used many methods, from holding events to being in different areas and spaces, to get to know the views of farmers in different areas.

What challenges did you face in your business?

The first challenge was the lack of access to the farmer; Accessing farmers in Iran is a very difficult task, and on the other hand, 70% of the data that the Ministry of Jihad has provided to us are not updated and useless, and we are trying to update part of this data in the form of a platform so that other people can access it. also access it; In this regard, we have built a system called “Village Platform” so that data such as the industrial capacities of each village can be entered into it, and with the circulation of information, we hope that many of these issues will be solved. Another problem in our country is that some manufacturing plants have seasonal activity and do not have any activity in other seasons. The reason for this is the lack of cooperation between factories and farmers in other regions, which is possible by requesting production to the farmer on the Arado platform.

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought of closing your business?

Yes; But according to the experience, we decided to continue and change the route so that the conditions will change accordingly. We suffered many ups and downs due to being far from the investor and the challenges of this field of business, but fortunately we overcame these challenges with tenacity.

What feedback have you received from users so far?

In the last few months, we have tested several different ways based on feedback, both from the aspect of the income model and the aspect of the executive work model; For example, we decided to receive a fee in the “sales income model”, but we came to the conclusion that we will become a broker in this way, although the market has fully accepted this type of model; On the other hand, the farmers didn’t see any difference between us and the brokers, and that’s why we changed the procedure. Another case was the difference in the behavior model of farmers in different regions, which made them buy inputs and sell their products in completely different ways.

If you had to start over, would you go the same way?

Yes, but we entered the market a little earlier and also started our activity in a smaller format; Although we tried our best to enter the market faster, but due to the approaches of the investor and the group, this happened later.

What advice do you have for people active in the ecosystem?

The same advice that most startup mentors have from a higher space to this ecosystem Look and deal more seriously with the real environment and don’t just rely on the environment of research and the mental world you have of the ecosystem.