ReshaMandi eyes expansion of silk portfolio in Delhi

ReshaMandi, India’s first silk agritech startup, has announced its expansion plans to the northern states of India by setting up its operations in Delhi.  The startup digitizes India’s silk supply chain and provides an AI & IoT-led digital ecosystem for silk, from the farm to the consumer. This was stated in a press release issued by the company.

The Bangalore-based startup’s expansion plan addresses the core issue of minimal connectivity between the silk-producing states in South India and the weaving communities and retailers in North India. The company aims to go for the much-needed technological interventions in bridging the supply chain gaps, reduce the economic risk to its stakeholders, and put an end to the exploitation faced by retailers and weavers at the hands of the middlemen.

The restrictions due to Covid-19 had threatened the survival and earning capacities of the silk weavers and retailers due to falling demand and decreasing footfalls in the stores. According to the press release, ReshaMandi’s footprint in Delhi comes as a ‘natural step forward’ aimed at bringing in standardization and transparency to a highly unregulated sector.

For the weavers’ community, the company's core offerings include access to AI-tested quality graded yarns for higher quality output, thereby fetching better selling prices, financial assistance for working capital and assistance in faster turnover of goods, says the release. ReshaMandi works with a network of over 300 retailers to drive down their credit risk and provides a digital platform to sell their goods.

Speaking about the expansion, Mayank Tiwari, Founder and CEO, ReshaMandi, said, “The expansion of our services to Delhi comes as the next logical step in our business growth strategy and our ultimate vision of making India Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) in silk. Having solidified our foothold in the southern states, we hope to carry our learnings to implement the same to transform and uplift the businesses of silk weavers and retailers in the North. Leveraging our established network, expertise and tech capabilities, we hope to resurrect India’s silk route and deepen the cooperation between varied regions in the country to march towards the dream of self-sufficiency in silk.”

Launched in 2020, ReshaMandi works as a grassroots-level enabler that works directly with sericulture farmers, fabric weavers, silk reelers, and retailers raised $1.7 million in seed funding in March 2021. Since the inception of the company, ReshaMandi has successfully consolidated its stronghold in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra where it works directly with over 12,000 silk farmers, 560 reelers, 3,840 weavers, and a network of 300 retailers, to revolutionize and introduce scientific techniques to the mainly subjective practices of the silk industry.

These initiatives have cumulatively resulted in an increase in output and increased earnings of the stakeholders, and at the same time reduced prices to the end consumers. The company connects these stakeholders over ReshaMandi mobile application and facilitates the production and supply of their silk produce.

The initiatives enable the weavers to get the best price for their produce, reducing the time to market, and making sure that they are supplied with the best raw materials and quality assurance testing kits.

Building on the momentum of the Make in India initiative, ReshaMandi is growing double month over month with a vision to increase the output and quality of the silk produced in India and decrease the dependence on imports.