SOCIAL VENTURES
“I came to the UK to do my PhD, and after that I worked in the financial industry for seven years,” Shende explains. “This was where I saw the similarities between agriculture and finance – there is an object at the centre and you try and maximise returns. But while in finance there were a lot of tools to manage risk around these objects, in agriculture there wasn’t a scalable platform. “In many ways, the software in this industry is like the software was in the 1980s and 1990s for financial services – we’re just starting the digitisation process.” Founded in 2013, KisanHub now works with a host of big-name clients and employs 40 people, split across its headquarters at Allia’s Future Business Centre in Cambridge and its office in Pune, India. “The Future Business Centre is a fantastic place – it has a vibe all of its own and it’s definitely an environment which is attractive to talent,” Shende says. “It’s the perfect location for us to scale.” Scaling is definitely on the agenda, as the company recently secured favoured by more and more consumers over meat – these sorts of trends will accelerate” Tomorrow's supply chain is going to look very different: plant-based proteins are being
£3.4m in fresh funding to beef up its operation. The money will be used to hire sales and marketing specialists and develop its platform further. Shende believes agility will be key, with big changes on the horizon for agriculture. “Tomorrow’s supply chain is going to look very different: plant- based proteins are being favoured by more and more consumers over meat. These sorts of trends are only going to accelerate, and this will change supply chains almost overnight,” he says. “They will be shorter, there will be new crops, and most importantly they’ll need to be much more dynamic. And you can’t have dynamic supply chains without having software and data behind you. If 50,000 people want to buy a Harry Potter book, you can just print them and send them out tomorrow. But if 50,000 people want organic tomatoes it’s a bit more difficult, you can’t just magic them up overnight. It’s a challenge, but over time we want to use software to make this process a bit more flexible.” Find out more at kisanhub.com
KisanHub is based at Allia Future Business Centre, which offers flexible workspace,
business support and a vibrant community for those creating change. Its four centres – spread between Cambridge, London and Peterborough – are dedicated to supporting businesses that have a positive impact on people and the planet, offering a place to start, develop and scale. Find out more at futurebusinesscentre.co.uk
ABOVE Co-founders Giles Barker (left) and Sachin Shende (right) b have a background in farming and agriculture
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