Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Sushan Rungta: Absolute was founded in 2016. About a decade ago, we realized our growing planet needs help. Globally, billions of people are micro deficient. Hundreds of millions of people fall ill because of tainted food and go to bed hungry each night. We are living in a world of 7.9 billion people and the crisis of inadequate and insufficient food needs an aversion before it's too late. As we dug deeper, we learned agriculture in most parts of the world is practiced based on traditional methods and not on science across different farming methods. It has become the need of the hour to change how the world currently grows fresh produce and how it reaches the consumer. This led to the advent of Absolute. Absolute is reimaging agriculture. Our vision is to create a better future for the people for the planet by increasing farmer profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Absolute?
Sushan Rungta: Our objective is to provide holistic support to farmers. We aim to become an ultimate companion for farmers, to help them meet their farming and trading needs. Resonating with our vision, our product portfolio includes complementary apps: Upaj and iTrade which provide a full-stack agronomic solution to farmers. Upaj is a tech-enabled precision farming app to improve farming practices. iTrade is a marketplace app creating a country-wide network of buyers and sellers for F&V trading. Utilizing the fresh produce of Absolute farmers, we are also engaged in the F&V import and export business. In addition to our presence in the national landscape, we are making our firm grip in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and have established vertical and open farms.
Great Companies: What makes Absolute different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
Sushan Rungta:
We are a Path-Breaking Plant Bioscience Revolution that is radically transforming how the world grows and trades. 5-years of extensive R&D intersecting plant science, microbiology and artificial intelligence led us to build the World's Largest Universal Farm Operating System across different plantations. We provide a full-stack agronomic solution. We deliver tech-enabled actionable insights for precision farming. Removing ambiguity from all aspects of crop production gives insights into harvest traceability and prediction enabling farmers to meet the demand prediction of the market at a better price.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Sushan Rungta: Farmer’s adoption of technology is the main challenge that we deal with. We are determined to address this challenge by integrating technology into their lives in the most simplified way possible. With the increase in digital penetration, the farmers are shedding their inhibitions and are embracing technology. This would help us to flourish faster and support them better.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Absolute?
Sushan Rungta: Our growth strategy includes conducting in-depth research in plant science that would allow us to gain further insights. Utilizing these insights, we plan to explore diverse solutions adding value to a farmer’s life. Ultimately, the main strategy is to increase customer acquisition. We also aspire to strengthen our existing business and expand at different locations globally.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Sushan Rungta: A successful business is never built overnight. So always be willing to take risks and fail, because if the business turns out to be successful, the profits will outweigh the losses. Remember to always have faith in yourself.
