PUNEET JHAJHARIA, ISHIRA MEHTA, 

Founded in 2013, CropConnect sells alternative staples such as millet, black rice, and bamboo rice. It procures them directly from farmers and sells them online, on its own e-commerce platform and general shopping sites such as Amazon. It also sells to restaurants and cafes. The founders say it has 40 clients, including FreshMenu and Olive Bar & Kitchen, and the segment accounts for 50% of the company revenue. The company says it has a gross margin of 30%. Fortune India could not verify these numbers. CropConnect is also one of the few startups represented in this list that is not venture capital funded. It is largely selffunded, save for the grant it was awarded by the Millennium Alliance. It plans to export its products to the U.S. and Europe this year.