Gramophone kills the marketplace that made 70% of revenue — and losses shrink

A full-stack agritech platform founded in 2016 that helps farmers improve yields with information, advice and farm inputs.

About $20.5M raised to date from Info Edge, Z3 Partners, Asha Impact and Siana Capital, among others; Info Edge invested ₹15 Cr (about $1.8M) in two tranches most recently.

Founded in 2016 by Tauseef Khan, Gramophone built a full-stack agritech platform helping farmers improve yields through information, advice and farm inputs, and added a marketplace called Gram Vyapaar where farmers could sell their harvests.

In FY24 the company shuttered the output (marketplace) vertical — which had generated 70% of FY23 revenue — letting go of the vertical's employees and cutting total expenditure 64.33% to ₹133.4 Cr. It went omnichannel, launched over 60 own farm-input brands, and cut advertising to ₹70 lakh. Own brands jumped from 2% to 20% of revenue.

Revenue fell 68.9% to ₹98.2 Cr in FY24, but net loss narrowed 39.9% to ₹34.8 Cr, EBITDA loss fell to ₹32.2 Cr from ₹55 Cr, and the CEO expected cash burn under $1M in FY25 with own brands at 35–40% of revenue.

The marketplace was revenue theater: 70% of topline for thin margins and heavy capital, masking a workable inputs business underneath.

Own brands capture the margin the marketplace gave away — a 10x jump to 20% of revenue in one year shows demand was already there.

Largest shareholder Info Edge backed the shrink with fresh capital, signaling investor tolerance for smaller-but-sounder.

A 69% revenue drop can be the healthy outcome: cutting a low-margin, capital-hungry vertical converts vanity topline into survivable unit economics.

As of December 19, 2024, Gramophone expected FY25 cash burn under $1M and own brands at 35–40% of revenue, competing against DeHaat, AgroStar, Ninjacart, Bijak and Crofarm with Info Edge holding roughly 40%.