Former CEO and co-founder of Milkbasket, Anant Goel, has launched a new omnichannel startup called Sorted, which focuses on the fruits and vegetables (F&V) segment.
The F&V startup has raised $5 million in its ongoing seed round and aims to provide quality fruits and vegetables directly from farms to customers through a franchisee network of digital mom-and-pop stores. Two other senior employees from Milkbasket, Nitin Gupta and Sahil Madan, have joined Goel as co-founders of Sorted.
Sorted plans to plug inefficiencies in the existing supply chains by undertaking multiple proofs of concepts (POCs) to solve known industry issues such as wastage while ensuring growth and profitability.
The startup aims to capture a significant portion of the $160 billion high-frequency and high-margin category of the F&V market in India by working closely with mom-and-pop stores.
Goel said that Sorted is not attempting to change the way India buys F&V, but rather make stocking and selling these products easier and simpler than procuring and selling products from reputed FMCG brands.
As the former CEO of Milkbasket, a startup that caters to household grocery needs in F&V, dairy, bakery, and more, Goel is an experienced entrepreneur in the F&V space. He stepped down from Milkbasket in 2021 after it was acquired by Reliance Retail for $40 million.
The fresh F&V delivery market has seen an uptick in adoption in recent years, largely due to the pandemic-driven growth and rising digital penetration.
Many startups in this segment raised funds last year, including agritech startup Akshayakalpa, which raised $15 million as part of its Series B funding round, Chandigarh-based Harvesting, which secured $4 million, and Deep Rooted, which raised $12.5 million. According to a report by Bain & Company, agritech investments in India could soar to $35 billion by 2025 from $329 million in 2020.
Overall, Sorted’s entry into the F&V market with its focus on plugging inefficiencies in the existing supply chains and working closely with mom-and-pop stores has the potential to capture a significant share of the market, which is expected to grow in the coming years.