India Tech Report

In this episode, I bring you a conversation with Anoop Srikantaswamy, founder and CEO of Moonrider, an electric tractor startup in Bengaluru. Anoop and his fellow founder Ravi Kulkarni bring deep background in the industry, having previously worked at automotive giants such as Toyota and Volvo Group.

Mechanical engineers by training, the two are entrepreneurs at heart, with Anoop having previously attempted a hyper-local medicine delivery venture while Ravi co-founded another electric mobility venture that he exited.

Anoop recalled that the idea for Moonrider was sparked by a conversation with a progressive farmer, who noted that while diesel is expensive, farm electricity is often free. Today, Moonrider is a vertically integrated leader, developing proprietary battery technology and power electronics in-house to achieve price parity with diesel.

In this conversation, we explore their moonshot journey — named in honour of the Chandrayaan launch — and discuss the future of connected and autonomous farming. Join us for an inside look at how Moonrider aims to drive the global shift toward sustainable, electric mechanization.

Chapters

(00:41) Introduction to Moonrider and the vision for a global electric vehicle platform.

(01:45) The Chandrayaan inspiration and the eureka moment for electric tractors.

(07:57) Disrupting India’s million-tractor market and improving energy security.

(09:27) Reimagining ownership through rental models and compressed biogas partnerships.

(15:19) Analyzing the economics of electric versus diesel farming costs.

(17:17) Driving vertical integration and R&D to reach price parity with diesel.

(29:31) Leveraging connected technology and computer vision for higher farm yields.

(36:05) Navigating the global roadmap toward autonomous agricultural pods.

(42:26) Building a high-voltage hardware ecosystem for entrepreneurs in India.

(51:38) Personal reflections on early entrepreneurial side-gigs and founding lessons.