Hello dear reader,
Each week, we cover startups solving geography-specific problems or those enabled by local context.
This week, 66% of our crop is agriculture-related.
India: Going Bananas
Indian banana chips producer Beyond Snack secured $8.3 million in Series A funding, with participation from NAB Ventures, Enrission India Capital, and Faad Network.
The Product
Beyond Snack offers chips in flavors like sour cream onion parsley, original, and the fiery “Fire Fire.” All chips are made from Kerala bananas (Nendran variety) and marketed as ultra-fresh—bananas are plucked and cooked the same day without human touch during washing, slicing, or cooking.
The Business Model
Like most FMCG products, Beyond Snack’s chips are sold through two main channels: online via the company’s website and in physical stores. By December 2023, the company’s products were available at over 9,000 locations, priced between $2 and $3. On the D2C front, all orders over ~$3 come with free delivery—yet their unit economics somehow work.
Beyond Snack appears to be the first company trying to build a brand in the banana chips category. A quick Google search for “banana chips India” will likely bring up their website and Amazon store at the top of the results. Thanks to their appearance on the Indian version of Shark Tank and major ad campaigns, the company is carving out a niche in this space.
The Local Angle
Bananas Are Big in India: India is the world’s leading banana producer, contributing 25% of the global supply. Interestingly, Kerala, the source of Beyond Snack’s bananas, isn’t even in the top five banana-producing states. Yet, one farm there can grow 250 varieties of bananas!
Indians Love Snacking: A staggering 97% of Indians snack daily, with 76% snacking twice a day. Snacking before breakfast is twice as popular in India as it is globally. Importantly for Beyond Snack, 85% of consumers prioritize unique flavors—something the company delivers in spades. Also, banana chips might have a health halo: bananas are a fruit, and fruit equals healthy. (Let’s not dwell on the fact that bananas have like 3 tons of sugar).
Uncompetitive Competition: The salty snacks and biscuits categories dominate the Indian market with the highest number of brands purchased. The banana chip market is competitive but mostly unorganized and unbranded. Beyond Snack, as a dedicated brand, has little direct competition in its niche.
Indonesia: Stacking Bikes
Indonesian startup Soul Parking, which provides a parking management solution, raised an undisclosed Series A funding round co-led by AppWorks and AC Ventures. Taiwan Mobile, USPACE, Wavemaker Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners also participated in the round.
The Product
Soul Parking’s main offering is compact motorcycle storage—an elevated parking structure that uses the world’s first hydraulic systems specifically designed for two-wheelers (2W). An eight-story structure occupying just 60 square meters can accommodate up to 240 bikes.
For riders, this means affordable, secure parking. For businesses, it enables more customer accommodation while maximizing space efficiency.
Beyond storage, Soul Parking offers solutions to businesses to digitize parking infrastructure with three core products:
Operating System: Manages backend processes like check-ins, occupancy rates, and payments.
Access Control System: Handles vehicle entry and exit, gate operations, and payment terminals.
Handheld Mobile: A mobile app with a printer for building owners and staff to manage parking lots.
Additionally, Soul Parking is embracing the global EV trend, providing charging infrastructure for electric two-wheelers (E2W).
The Business Model
Soul Parking serves consumers, businesses, and governments.
For end users, the service operates via an app, akin to valet parking. Riders scan a barcode upon arrival, and staff park the 2W in storage. Fees include hourly, 12-hour, or monthly options, costing $0.14, $0.42, and $9.83, respectively.
On the B2B side, Soul Parking partners with building owners to automate parking facilities. Businesses can either pay for system installation or enter profit-sharing agreements, with Soul Parking taking 70-80% of profits for the first five years and 50% for the next five years.
While specifics on B2G operations remain unclear, Soul Parking supplies systems for government facilities. The company’s EV initiatives also align with Indonesia’s policy goals to promote electrification. Speaking of.
The Local Angle
Motorcycle Dominance: 2Ws account for 85% of all vehicles in Indonesia, with 125 million motorbikes on the roads. Jakarta alone has seen motorcycle numbers grow fivefold in 20 years, from 3 million to 16 million. Extreme congestion (7th worst globally) makes efficient parking solutions a necessity.
Parking Issues: Indonesia’s rapid 7% annual growth in motorcycle numbers far outpaces its 0.1% increase in road surface area. This imbalance exacerbates parking issues, with illegal parking rampant despite government crackdowns. Soul Parking stands to benefit from this immense demand for organized parking. Not great for traffic, tremendous opportunity for Soul Parking.
E2W potential: As I wrote in my piece on Indonesia’s battery industry, the country has big ambitions to electrify its vehicle fleet. While only 12,000 E2Ws were sold in 2023, the target for 2030 is a staggering 13 million. This could help slash 15% of greenhouse gas emissions from motorbikes. To support that kind of growth—or even anything close to it—there’s going to be huge demand for battery swap and charging stations. And any company playing in the parking space (pun intended) will accrue a lot of value.
India: Electric Fields
Moonrider, an Indian electric tractor startup, has raised $2.2 million in seed funding co-led by AdvantEdge Founders and Micelio Technology Fund.
The Product
Moonrider supplies two tractor models: a 50HP and a 75HP version. The company claims that just 30 minutes of rapid charging provides a 7-hour runtime. Their pitch is that the upfront costs are comparable to diesel competitors, but ownership costs are 75% lower.
The Business Model
From the little we know, it seems Moonrider plans to both sell its tractors and offer a rental option. However, with $2.2 million in funding, mass production is still a way off. The company is focusing on research, refining its software and battery technology, with a pending patent to boot.
The Local Angle
India’s Tractor Dominance: Turns out, India produces 45% of the world’s tractors, churning out nearly a million vehicles annually. Most of this is aimed at the local market: India ranks as the second-largest agricultural producer after China, and has the highest number of agricultural workers in the world.
The Emission Problem: India’s emissions issues are broad and multifaceted. Between 1990 and 2023, greenhouse gas emissions have increased by a staggering 198.8%, making India the third-largest emitter globally. Agricultural production alone accounts for 14% of the total emissions. While we don’t have specific figures for how much agricultural machinery contributes to emissions in India, we do know that in Europe, all agricultural machinery adds about 1% to agriculture’s 10% emissions. But I would assume that tractors in the EU are more eco-friendly than in India, and I’m not sure that a cow’s eco-friendliness differs between regions.
Tailwinds for Electric Tractors: The Indian government is beginning to roll out initiatives to encourage the adoption of electric tractors. Some states offer subsidies up to 40% of the e-tractor price before taxes, while others provide tax exemptions. Still, e-tractor prices can be up to twice as high as their diesel counterparts, and the charging infrastructure is still in its infancy. Moonrider is aiming to address at least one of these challenges.
