Shyam Sundar Singh - Initially, We Were Not Having Any Revenue Model in Our Minds, We Just Wanted to Understand and Explore This Sector (Founder at DeHaat, Series C Company)






1. Tell us about you DeHaat and its journey from its inception.

We are 5 co-founders who share a similar agricultural background. We all did our respective jobs for some time and after that, we wanted to shift to a more familiar sector. As we all belong to the agricultural sector so we wanted to explore it more. Initially, we were not having any revenue model in our minds, we just wanted to understand and explore this sector. 

So, for the initial 2-3 years we spent our whole time on the fields and started giving some services to the farmers so we started providing them with the training sessions. 

Gradually, we realized that in order to impact the progress just proving them some information and training is not enough, so we started to help them with the technical support; getting access to good quality inputs and access to markets for selling their products and this will have a very quick and direct impact on them. 

Hence, we started providing them support like access to quality inputs, giving them advisory assistance and helping them link with the markets. For the first couple of years, we did it on our own with a very small team but once our first unit requirement was established, we started to expand. 

With the initial years of experience, we noticed that in order to grow we need to have a reliable channel of the market at a ground level so we started working with local entrepreneurs. 

These entrepreneurs are from the same local community with a similar agricultural background who provide products and services to the farmers and became our franchise. Once, their unit requirements got established we expanded our networks and currently, we are working with 1500 such help centres.


2. When & how did you get clarity on what you wanted to do and how did this idea come to you?

This was not just an idea for us as we wanted to work in this sector as we already had a family in the agricultural sector and moreover, we saw a lot of potential and opportunities in the agriculture sector. 

We knew the problem we needed to work on as the income of the farmers through agriculture was very less, we wanted to work on it but the exact clarity about what is needed to be done got evolved in the initial years, it wasn’t a one-day story. 

The one thing that remained clear all through these years was that we are farmer-focused, and impact-focused so, ultimately our goal was to increase the income of the Indian farmers.



3. What have been your biggest challenges as a Founder CEO & what advice would you give to others to avoid them?

As a co-founder team, we faced few challenges like technological excellence, as this is a very unorganized sector and the biggest task was to introduce the right set of technology to the farmers which are effective as well as reliable for the growth of all the stakeholders. 

This is something we’ve been trying to solve all through these years and as we are having the ground level insights and a direct connection with the farmers we were able to bring some change and we are still growing.

Another challenge we faced was to attract the right kind of talent, in the initial 4-5 years when we started, we were not in a very healthy state as now. We were not getting much attention from the investment communities, government etc. so attracting the right kind of talent from other sectors who would be willing to work in this sector was a challenging factor and as of now, this is not a matter of concern anymore.


4. What is your view on implementing ESOP buybacks and liquidity programs in startups?

We have a very attractive ESOP program as we provide our ESOP services to colleagues who are interested in it and as well as to those who have been working with us for some time. Our ESOP program has been widely accepted and appreciated by our colleagues.

And about the buyback programs, it completely subjected to the right stage and for now, we aren’t at the right stage to implement the buyback programs as a company needs to generate ample amount of cash before implementing the buyback and we are still in our expansion stage.


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5. When should one consider raising funds, according to you is the right time?

Fundraising is subjected to the vision as it is a factor of the plan for an organization. Suppose, someone plans to spend X $ in the coming year then he should keep at least 6-12 months of margin i.e. He should have the fundraised 6-12 months before it's needed. So, the fund-raise activity completely depends upon the growth plan and the vision.


6. What are your future plans for yourself and your company?

We have a very robust team for such matters as handling any issue or any setbacks we all sit together, discuss the problems and get a way out of it. We gain knowledge and experience from every setback or hurdles we face.