India’s rural economy, home to nearly 65% of its population, is a crucial pillar of its economic growth. However, rural areas face numerous challenges, including limited access to technology, markets, financial services, and healthcare. Recognizing these gaps, several startups have emerged with innovative solutions to address the unique needs of underserved communities. These rural-focused startups are transforming the lives of farmers, entrepreneurs, and rural families by leveraging technology to provide better access to resources, enhance productivity, and improve living standards.
These startups are tackling a variety of issues, from streamlining agricultural supply chains to improving financial inclusion and healthcare services. Their solutions often include tech-enabled platforms, mobile apps, and digital tools that break down barriers in remote areas, helping rural populations make informed decisions and access much-needed services. Beyond economic growth, these ventures aim to foster social change by creating job opportunities, empowering women, and ensuring sustainable development in underserved regions.
Key Areas of Focus for Rural-Focused Startups:
- Agriculture and AgriTech
Agriculture remains the backbone of India’s rural economy. AgriTech startups are leveraging technology to improve farming productivity, reduce wastage, and enable better market access for farmers. These startups often offer solutions related to precision farming, weather forecasting, soil health management, irrigation systems, and digital marketplaces for agricultural products.
Examples:
- AgroStar:
Founded in 2013, AgroStar is one of India’s leading AgTech startups and provides comprehensive solutions to address three key challenges faced by farmers: limited access to high-quality agricultural inputs, a lack of knowledge about modern farming practices, and difficulty accessing the best markets for selling their produce. AgroStar serves millions of farmers across rural cities in India through an omnichannel approach. Additionally, it operates a growing retail network of over 7,000 stores. With the acquisition of INI Farms, a leader in pomegranate, banana, and fresh produce exports, AgroStar is helping farmers sell their goods to major retail chains, creating a full-stack model that addresses farmers’ needs from production to market access.
- DeHaat
DeHaat is an Agritech firm based in Patna that provides comprehensive agricultural services to Indian farmers. The company offers a wide range of services, including the distribution of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, farm machinery, cattle feed, and other agricultural products. Additionally, DeHaat provides farm advisory, financial services, and market linkages to help farmers sell their produce. The company has established connections with around 7,00,000 smallholder farmers across states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, through its network of 4,000 DeHaat centers, which operate on a franchise model. Farmers associated with DeHaat gain access to agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as AI-driven, tailored crop advisory services for pest and disease management, delivered through a mobile app and call centers.
- Financial Inclusion and FinTech
A significant portion of India’s rural population remains outside the formal financial ecosystem. Rural-focused FinTech startups are bringing financial services to underserved populations, including access to credit, digital payment systems, insurance, and savings tools. These innovations are transforming the way rural communities manage their finances, paving the way for financial inclusion.
Examples:
- BankSathi uses technology to help customers find the best options for different financial products, such as bank accounts, credit cards, demat accounts, and insurance. It has an approved insurance license from the IRDA, which allows it to offer a variety of affordable insurance options, especially in rural areas of India. The platform has a network of 1.5 million financial advisors who provide services across 18,000 pin codes. BankSathi aims to offer its users a smooth and effortless experience by utilizing technology, thereby enabling rural customers to access financial services that were previously unavailable to them.
- Navadhan is a FinTech company focused on rural areas, to create wealth for underbanked households and rural entrepreneurs. Its mission is to link NBFCs and banks with small businesses and microenterprises (MSMEs) by sourcing and delivering financial services to them. It is focused on connecting small rural businesses with financial resources. The company works with a network of 18 lending partners, including NBFCs, small finance banks, and traditional banks. It addresses two key challenges in rural markets: the reliance on a cash-based economy and the limited banking history that many rural businesses face, helping bridge the gap between these businesses and essential financial services.
- Healthcare in rural India often suffers from inadequate infrastructure, limited access to medical professionals, and low awareness about health practices. Healthcare startups are working towards making healthcare services more accessible by offering telemedicine, affordable diagnostics, mobile health clinics, and awareness programs in rural areas.
Examples:
- DigiQure
In 2020, DigiQure was launched to enhance primary healthcare services in rural areas by offering teleconsultations. Through the startup, the founders connect underserved rural communities with healthcare professionals via video consultations, using a subscription-based model with cards priced at just Re 1. In addition to video consultations, they also provide digital prescriptions, lab test services, and referrals to partner hospitals for secondary care.
To make healthcare more affordable, they introduced the Saksham card, a subscription-based model that costs Re 1 per day. This card covers the user and their family of four, providing access to free consultations at e-clinics set up by the startup. For just Rs 365 a year, a family can avail of unlimited video consultations with healthcare professionals, regardless of the illness or the number of consultations needed.
- Online Chikitsa Mitra (OCM)
OCM was launched in 2016 to leverage technology in making healthcare more accessible in rural India. The platform connects patients with specialized doctors across the country, overcoming geographical barriers and ensuring expert medical care for all.
OCM supports long-term healthcare management through features like medication reminders, follow-up scheduling, and digital health records, improving patient engagement and adherence to treatment. Their telemedicine services offer remote consultations, reducing travel and enhancing convenience. OCM also provides educational resources to improve health literacy and encourage preventive care, leading to better health outcomes and contributing to overall community well-being across India.
- Education and EdTech
Despite growing digital penetration, rural India still faces challenges in accessing quality education, including a lack of infrastructure, limited resources, and teacher shortages. EdTech startups are using digital tools to bring education to the doorsteps of rural students, offering online learning, tutoring, skill development, and vocational training programs.
Examples:
- Convegenius
ConveGenius, founded by Jairaj Bhattacharya and Shashank Pandey, is an Ed-Tech social enterprise aimed at providing quality education to over 100 million underprivileged students, helping bridge the learning gap in India.
The platform is accessible through a user-friendly application like WhatsApp. Not only is it affordable, but it also functions in areas with low connectivity, requiring only 2G/3G internet services. ConveGenius provides personalized assessments and remedial classes, supporting effective home-based learning.
- ClickSkills
ClickSkills EdTech Pvt Ltd, an innovative startup dedicated to enhancing IT education in India’s rural areas, is designed to cater to the growing demand for regional language education in the field of data science. Its comprehensive course covers fundamental concepts such as data basics, data cleaning, Python programming, and essential Python libraries including Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib. ClickSkills EdTech Pvt Ltd specializes in delivering courses in Indian regional languages. The company’s commitment to linguistic diversity in education caters to engineering students, computer science graduates, and individuals looking to enhance their IT skills.
- Renewable Energy
Rural India often faces issues related to power shortages and unreliable energy supply. Startups in the renewable energy sector are addressing these issues by providing affordable, sustainable, and decentralized solar energy solutions. This shift to renewable energy is not only ensuring a consistent power supply but also promoting environmental sustainability.
Examples:
- Mera Gao Power
Mera Gao Power (MGP), fully owned by Micro Grid Power Global (Singapore), was established in 2011 to design, build, operate, and maintain affordable microgrids that provide essential energy services to India’s remote off-grid villages. The company targets small, isolated villages with fewer than 100 homes, where access to the main power grid is not viable. MGP’s village-level automated microgrids generate electricity using solar panels, store the energy in batteries, and distribute it to households, powering LED lights and mobile phone chargers for up to 7 hours at night. All this is offered for less than USD 1 per week, providing affordable energy to low-income families who have traditionally been overlooked by commercial energy providers.
MGP aims to demonstrate that these rural communities not only need energy services but are also capable of paying for them. By offering a cost-effective solution, MGP helps bridge the energy gap in under-served areas, bringing sustainable electricity to communities that would otherwise remain disconnected from the national grid.
- Ecolibrium Energy
Ecolibrium Energy, based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, uses data analytics and IoT to optimize energy consumption in rural and semi-urban areas. They provide energy management systems that help industries and rural communities optimize energy use, reduce costs, and minimize environmental impacts. This solution enables enterprises to enhance their productivity by leveraging real-time data to offer insights that improve the availability of critical assets and boost operational efficiency. With over 700 installations in more than 300 global organizations, Ecolibrium is making a significant impact in creating healthier buildings, connected factories, and smarter cities. Ecolibrium’s mission is to reimagine a future where every watt counts, focusing on maximizing energy efficiency and sustainability.
- Water and Sanitation
Access to clean water and sanitation is a major concern in many rural areas. Startups are working to solve these challenges through innovative solutions like affordable water filtration, water recycling, and creating sanitation facilities that are both cost-effective and easy to maintain.
Examples:
- Sarvajal:
In 2008, the Piramal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Piramal Group led by Ajay Piramal, launched Sarvajal (meaning “water for all” in Sanskrit) as a pilot project in Bagar, Rajasthan. The initiative aimed to provide affordable and safe drinking water by integrating technology and purified water solutions. Operating in areas where water contamination causes significant health problems, Sarvajal uses a franchisee network to distribute purified water at affordable prices in rural villages and urban slums. Their goal is to address critical challenges that hinder India’s economic growth.
One of their key innovations includes solar-powered, cloud-connected Water ATMs, which function like traditional ATMs but dispense water instead of cash. These kiosks are strategically placed in densely populated residential areas, busy streets, stores, schools, and hospitals, offering easy access to clean drinking water.
- Rite Water Solutions (India) Limited
Rite Water is a certified clean technology company specializing in integrated solutions for water purification, solar energy, and IoT-based monitoring systems. Their mission is to provide you with comprehensive, cost-effective, and sustainable solutions to ensure safe drinking water and improve water quality in both rural and urban communities across India. With over 10 years of experience in addressing water quality challenges, Rite Water Solutions has successfully implemented more than 200 installations nationwide. Their innovative approach combines advanced water treatment technologies, reliable solar energy systems, and smart IoT applications to enhance water quality and promote environmental sustainability. Rite Water Solutions is dedicated to solving complex water quality issues by utilizing clean technologies that improve your quality of life and contribute to a sustainable environment. Their commitment to delivering superior products and services at competitive prices has made them a trusted leader in the industry.
- E-commerce and Marketplaces
E-commerce has revolutionized urban retail, and rural India is also seeing the benefits through startups that connect rural producers and consumers to the broader e-commerce ecosystem. These startups often specialize in creating platforms where local artisans, farmers, and small businesses can sell their goods.
Examples:
- Rozana
Rozana is an online rural commerce platform offering a diverse range of grocery products, including fruits, vegetables, bakery items, seafood, meat, beverages, snacks, confectionery, dry fruits, frozen goods, and more. Serving 12,000 villages, it operates through a hyperlocal model with 18,000 peer partners handling last-mile delivery. Founded in 2021 by Ankur Dahiya, Adwait Vikram Singh, Mukesh Christopher, and Prithvi Pal Singh, Rozana runs an e-commerce platform and logistics network tailored to rural India. In March 2024, it secured $22.5 million in funding.
- Elastic Run
Founded in 2016 by Sandeep Deshmukh, Shitiz Bansal, and Saurabh Nigam, ElasticRun is a B2B eCommerce platform focused on rural India, creating new opportunities for brands to reach rural consumers.
It extends the reach of a brand’s direct distribution networks to underserved rural markets, allowing access to new stores and customers that traditional distribution channels couldn’t reach. Its network helps eCommerce companies connect with customers in remote rural areas using a crowdsourced logistics network. The platform generates valuable transaction data, which enables financial institutions to onboard a large number of rural stores as SME clients. Additionally, this data helps brands refine their marketing strategies for rural markets. The extensive reach is made possible by the ElasticRun technology platform, which facilitates a crowdsourced logistics network with “no capex” and “variable cost” models. Through its rural Kirana network, the platform facilitates trade, finance, and data for the $600 billion consumption market in India.
Conclusion
Rural-focused startups in India are continuously evolving and adapting to meet the unique needs of the rural population. The combination of rising mobile penetration, government support for rural development, and increasing demand for accessible services is helping foster a new wave of innovation in rural India. As these startups grow, they not only create economic opportunities but also improve the quality of life for millions of people in India’s rural heartland. The continued focus on these areas could result in a more inclusive and sustainable future for rural India.
