Gramophone (Agstack Technologies) is an Indian agritech company, based in Indore or Gurugram (sources differ), selling seeds, fertilisers and farm inputs to farmers directly and via retailers.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Gramophone does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Gramophone in Brief

• What it is: Gramophone is an Indian Agri inputs company based in Indore or Gurugram (sources differ).
• Who it serves: businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers.
• Sells seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides and farming equipment to farmers directly and through small retailers (omnichannel).
• Launched 60+ own brands in FY24; own brands were 20 per cent of FY24 revenue versus 2 per cent in FY23.
• Provides farm advisory and earlier added lending for farmers with a partner.
• Funding: About $22-28 million (sources differ).

Gramophone Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Gramophone?

Gramophone operates in the Agri inputs space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Gramophone.

• Sells seeds, fertilisers, nutrients, pesticides and farming equipment to farmers directly and through small retailers (omnichannel).
• Launched 60+ own brands in FY24; own brands were 20 per cent of FY24 revenue versus 2 per cent in FY23.
• Provides farm advisory and earlier added lending for farmers with a partner.
• Shut its Gram Vyapaar produce marketplace in FY24.

The Origin Story of Gramophone

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Tauseef Khan, Nishant Mahatre.
• Founded in 2016 by Tauseef Khan (IIT and IIM alumnus) and Nishant Mahatre, reportedly bootstrapped with Rs 10 lakh.
• Began as an advisory-led platform with a helpline, local agents and stores.

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the Agri inputs sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• December 2020: Rs 25 crore round led by Siana Capital.
• 2021: Series B of about Rs 75 crore ($10 million) led by Z3 Partners.
• FY24: marketplace vertical discontinued; revenue dropped to Rs 98 crore.
• December 2024: Info Edge decided to invest Rs 15 crore.
• January 2026: Unnati agreed to acquire Gramophone in a share swap involving Info Edge.

Gramophone Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• Dec 2020: Rs 25 crore ($3.4 million), Siana Capital, Info Edge, Asha Impact, Better Capital.
• 2021: Series B about Rs 75 crore, Z3 Partners with Info Edge, Asha Impact, Siana.
• 2024: Rs 15 crore in two tranches, Info Edge.

How Does Gramophone Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Margin on input sales with growing share of own brands (target 35-40 per cent in FY25).
• Cash burn expected under $1 million in next fiscal year (company expectation).

The Numbers: Gramophone Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY23: revenue Rs 315.7 crore; net loss Rs 57.9 crore.
• FY24: revenue Rs 98.2 crore (down 68.9 per cent); net loss Rs 34.8 crore; EBITDA margin -32%.
• FY25: turnover Rs 66.8 crore per Inc42 report; another tracker shows Rs 71 crore (reports differ).

Market Opportunity for Gramophone

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising digital adoption, cloud and mobile penetration, growing enterprise technology spending, government digitisation programmes and a deep pool of engineering talent. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Competes in Indian agri-input retail against better-funded peers.

Technology and Product at Gramophone

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are product quality, data and integration depth, security, scalability and the speed of shipping improvements.

• Digital platform and app with advisory; risk assessment tool for credit.

Team and Culture at Gramophone

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Tauseef Khan is founder and CEO.
• Info Edge holds about 39.6 per cent.

Gramophone Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Gramophone

• Sharp revenue decline and continuing losses.
• Dependence on Info Edge funding.
• Merger with Unnati adds integration risk.
• Competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth.
• Funding risk: technology businesses often burn cash before reaching profit and depend on investor appetite.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Gramophone Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Planned merger with Unnati to create a full-stack agri-tech platform; Info Edge to swap its stake for a 15.7 per cent stake in Unnati.
• Key indicators: recurring revenue, customer retention, gross margin, customer acquisition cost and runway.
• Funding position: Whether Gramophone can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Industry Context: Where Gramophone Fits

India's technology startup ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, supported by cheap data, a large base of smartphone users, digital public infrastructure and a deep engineering talent pool. Companies now build for education, software, mobility, logistics, agriculture, defence, media and more, selling both to Indian customers and abroad.

Durable technology companies usually combine a clear customer problem with repeatable distribution and disciplined unit economics. Growth funded only by spending tends to fade, while products that customers keep using and paying for build compounding advantages.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Gramophone

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Gramophone.

Bull case

• A large and growing base of digital users and businesses expands the addressable market.
• Recurring revenue and strong retention can compound growth.
• Selling into global markets widens the opportunity beyond India.

Bear case

• Heavy competition can compress pricing and margins.
• Dependence on external funding can force painful cost cuts.
• Regulation or platform changes can disrupt a product quickly.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Gramophone

Studying a company in the Agri inputs space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Gramophone.

• Solving a clear, frequent customer problem matters more than adding features.
• Retention and repeat usage are better health signals than sign-ups.
• Disciplined spending extends runway and keeps options open when funding tightens.
• Distribution, not just product quality, decides who wins in crowded markets.
• Building trust through data protection and reliability is part of the product.

How to Evaluate Gramophone as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Gramophone name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Gramophone is part of India’s growing Agri inputs ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Gramophone FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gramophone?

Gramophone (Agstack Technologies) is an Indian agritech company, based in Indore or Gurugram (sources differ), selling seeds, fertilisers and farm inputs to farmers directly and via retailers. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Gramophone?

Gramophone was founded by Tauseef Khan, Nishant Mahatre, and the company reports a founding year of 2016.

How much funding has Gramophone raised?

About $22-28 million (sources differ). Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Gramophone make money?

Gramophone earns revenue from its Agri inputs products and services sold to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Gramophone?

Reported rivals include DeHaat, AgroStar, Ninjacart, Bijak. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Gramophone?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules. This is educational content, not investment advice.

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Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.