A sustainability platform with eleven years of field data behind it

What is already built

Earth5R has operated since 2014 and was incorporated in 2015. In that time it has run community environmental programmes across India and internationally, and has built the data infrastructure that those programmes generate. The figures above are delivered work, not projections.

That distinction matters for an investor. The platform is not a forecast of what field operations might produce. It is the accumulated record of what 98,073 trained community leaders have already collected, verified and geotagged across 5,526 distinct locations.

Who already backs this

Earth5R has received funding from the United Nations, Lufthansa and Hexaware. That matters to an incoming investor for a simple reason: institutions of that size do not write cheques without running their own diligence first, and they have already run it.

On the research side, Earth5R works with MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and NYU. Those collaborations are what keep the measurement methodology defensible, which is the part that decides whether ESG data is sellable or merely collected.

The flagship opportunity: organic transition at scale

Indian agriculture is at a turning point. Decades of chemical input dependence have produced soil degradation, rising farmer debt and climate vulnerability. The case for organic transition is no longer contested. What farmers lack is access to affordable inputs, to financing, and to buyers who will pay a premium for verified produce.

Earth5R has partnered with Amul, India's largest dairy cooperative, RichPlus, an organic input provider, and Indian Overseas Bank, which brings rural lending reach. Together the programme is designed to bring 10 million farmers onto the Earth5R platform over the coming decade.

How the model works

At an average of ₹2,000 revenue per farmer per year, the programme at full scale represents ₹20,000 crore, roughly $2.4 billion, in recurring annual revenue. That is the arithmetic of the target, stated plainly: 10 million farmers multiplied by the subscription. It is a projection at full scale, not current revenue.

Beyond agriculture: the urban consumer side

Agriculture is the largest revenue anchor, but the same platform reaches urban markets. The clearest example is Decathlon, the world's largest sporting goods retailer. Through the Earth5R app, users log cycling, running and walking, which qualifies them for the Decathlon Fitness Challenge and its vouchers and rewards.

For the consumer it is motivation to adopt a greener routine. For Decathlon it is customer acquisition, sustainability positioning with a youth audience, and measurable campaign data. The partnership has gone far enough that Decathlon has invested in joint marketing collateral, which is the practical test of whether a sustainability partnership is real.

The structure is replicable. Airlines, FMCG, fitness and fintech brands can all use Earth5R as a sustainability-linked engagement engine. For an investor, this is what stops Earth5R being a single-market rural play.

The revenue model

Six streams, across two customer bases, with the majority recurring.

• Per-farmer subscriptions. Annual, predictable, and the largest single line at scale.
• Per-user engagement revenue. Brands pay for campaigns, rewards and the audience data that comes with them.
• Carbon credit monetisation. Verified practice on farms and in cities converted to credits sold on global markets.
• Agri-input and service marketplace. Transaction revenue, and a distribution channel corporates pay to reach.
• Output market linkage. Transaction-linked revenue on premium organic produce.
• Data and ESG intelligence. The TERRA layer, sold to corporates, banks, insurers and government.

The rural and urban sides are not dependent on each other. That is deliberate. A platform with one revenue stream and one customer type is a bet on one market behaving; this is not that.

Market and timing

Sustainability spending is moving from voluntary to mandated. India's BRSR framework, the EU's CBAM, and supplier ESG disclosure requirements all create demand for exactly what Earth5R holds: verified, primary, field-level data rather than self-reported corporate estimates.

The regulatory direction is the part that matters most. Corporate sustainability reporting is becoming a compliance obligation rather than a communications exercise, and compliance demands evidence that stands up to audit.

The wider portfolio

The organic transition and the Decathlon partnership sit inside a larger body of work that an investor inherits.

• BlueCities Network. River and urban water restoration at city scale, including the Mithi River programme in Mumbai.
• Circular economy programmes. Waste-to-resource work engaging corporates and communities together.
• Financial literacy and livelihood training. Delivered across rural India with leading banks.
• TERRA. The ESG scoring and intelligence system built on the field data described above.
• Research and policy partnerships. Collaborations with MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, NYU, UNESCO and the IITs.

The breadth is the point. Earth5R is not a startup testing one idea against one market. It is an operating organisation with eleven years of delivery behind it, now building the technology layer that makes that delivery sellable.

Where the capital goes

Leadership

Saurabh Gupta, Founder and CEO. UN-recognised environmentalist, Google-awarded researcher and two-time TEDx speaker, working at the intersection of sustainability and technology.

Bharati Marathe, Vice President and Head of Research and Innovation. Environmental architect specialising in circular economy systems, and part of the founding team.

Abhinav Bansal, Director and Strategic Advisor. Focused on scaling operations and corporate partnerships.

Advisory board

Ouided Bouchamaoui, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Ovais Sarmad, former Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.

Sumantra Sen, responsible finance and impact investing.

Ashwin Kak, former Sustainability Director, AB InBev India.

Recognition

• Endorsed by President Emmanuel Macron of France.
• Awarded by Google, Best Apps of 2023, for the Earth5R app.
• Recognised by UNESCO Green Citizens as a global sustainability initiative.
• Recognised by the United Nations.
• Featured at the Paris Peace Forum, and across two TEDx talks.
• Research collaboration with MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge and NYU.
• Funded by the United Nations, Lufthansa and Hexaware.