Agri-Tech Start-Up Bharat Intelligence Bags ₹7 Cr Pre-Seed, Farmers Become Shareholders

Agri-tech start-up Bharat Intelligence has raised ₹7 crore in pre-seed round led by Sahyadri Farms. The platform, which focuses on farm labour crisis, announced that more than 22,500 farmers have joined as shareholders through Sahyadri Farms.

The start-up will use the fresh capital to strengthen its product, and scale operations across Western Maharashtra’s horticulture belts—embedding technology directly into the value chains of grape, banana, tomato, and pomegranate farmers.

Under this partnership, farmers will hold equity in Bharat Intelligence but also have a direct voice in its leadership. “Our board includes their representative, Chairman Vilas Shinde, who will safeguard farmer interests at every level,” said Azhaan Merchant, cofounder and CEO of Bharat Intelligence.

“This ensures that profits, governance, and key decisions flow back into the very communities we serve. Beyond financial participation, the deeper benefit is voice and ownership—farmers are not just users of our technology, they are co-creators shaping its future,” he told Outlook Business.

Founded in 2024, Bharat Intelligence is using artificial intelligence to organise rural labour markets, giving farmers timely access to skilled crews and workers steady, dignified jobs. Speaking about the Indian economy, Merchant said the country is agrarian, deeply physical, and cannot be understood from the cloud alone.

“To build AI for India, it must be embedded in rural life—attuned to the nuance of a handshake in a village market, the seasonal migration of workers balancing dual livelihoods, and the trust networks that quietly govern transactions,” he added.

He further mentioned the challenges in training AI systems for a physical-first ecosystem, saying the team had to build the foundation from scratch: aggregating, cleaning, and creating new pipelines. And the harder challenge was cultural because many communities still lack digital access and operate within traditional social structures, which can include a deep mistrust of outsiders.

“Even with the best intentions, this creates friction. For them, outcomes must be immediate—they live day to day. That constraint forced us to prioritise short-term, visible impact over long-term optimisation,” the founder said.

In addition, Sahyari Farms chairman and managing director Vilas Shinde highlighted that labour availability has become one of the most pressing challenges for farmers, particularly in horticulture.

“Through our investment in Bharat Intelligence, we are not only addressing this critical issue with the power of AI, but also empowering thousands of farmers to become shareholders in the technology shaping their future. This partnership reflects our conviction that real transformation happens when farmers are at the centre of innovation,” Shinde added.

The start-up further aims to focus on commerce and embedded finance, which can ensure that both farmers and labourers move forward together on the same platform.