understanding
Bolbhav through
our data story
We are building the foundation of a data cooperative, one step at a time. Bolbhav was launched on April 10th, 2023, in the beta phase with a single use-case of crop sale price data. Since its inception, we have been testing two hypotheses - first, will farmers contribute data and second, will farmers pay to access aggregated data?
Farmers contribute
their crop sale data and earn rewards
Each data unit represents the price at which a crop was sold, captured through the submission of a sales receipt issued by the agricultural market. These receipts contain crucial information such as the market name, crop name, variety, quantity, price, and trader name. This data undergoes a validation process by other users. Contributors are rewarded with access to price data submitted by other users, for example, by contributing five receipts, a user can see prices of one agricultural market for one year.
Total Data Units Contributed to Date
Initially, we wanted to prove the hypothesis of whether users would pay for real-time information. Hence, we had employees and gig workers in the field to collect price data. Since May 5, 2024, we have completely shifted to user contributions. There is no longer any monetary incentive for anyone to contribute. We are now implementing strategies aimed at achieving a minimum user contribution rate of 50% by December 2024.
Percentage of Users Who Have Contributed at Least Once
Monthly Unique Contributors
Notes on the data in this section:​
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This graph displays the monthly unique contributors since January 1, 2024.
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Initially, we provided monetary incentives to boost regular contributions. Between April 2023 and December 2023, we used an employee-based data collection model. From January 2024 to April 2024, we switched to a gig worker-based data collection model. Since May 5, 2024, we have completely phased out monetary incentives. Now, by contributing, users only gain access to prices contributed by others.
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The total number of units contributed to date is calculated by counting the total number of data points submitted since the launch of Bolbhav in April 2023.
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The percentage of users who have contributed at least once is calculated by dividing the count of unique users who have either contributed or validated a data point by the total number of unique phones used to sign up for the application.
Farmers actively seek
aggregated data to make better decisions
Users can access aggregated dataset by selecting their preferred crop and market. They are presented with aggregated statistics alongside images of sales receipts for that specific mandi-crop-date combination. This engagement is entirely voluntary, as the product does not have push notifications as of now. Users proactively open the app to view crop prices, indicating a strong, self-motivated interest in the data provided.
Count of Times Aggregated Data is Viewed by Users
We utilize phone numbers as unique identifiers for our users. Each new phone number registered with the application receives a five-day trial period to explore the product. The total number of application installs is nearly half this figure, suggesting that individuals may be using multiple phone numbers to access several trial periods. This trend indicates that farmers are actively seeking ways to continue using the product without incurring costs.
Count of Users, Based on Unique Phone Numbers
Trends in Daily Active Users (DAU)
Notes on the data in this section:​
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This graph displays the daily active users over the past 90 days. Engagement drops on weekends and public holidays due to the absence of new pricing data, illustrating the direct impact of market activity on app usage. Similarly, engagement depends on season, harvesting period sees highest engagement.
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On 22nd March, we phased out the freemium feature in the application, making it mandatory to either contribute or buy subscription. This explains the dip in the daily active users after that period.
Farmers pay
to access an aggregated dataset
Users have the option to access the aggregated dataset either by using tokens earned through their contributions, or by purchasing a usage-based subscription. We nudge users to earn tokens by performing different activities on the platform rather than directing them to buy a subscription. Purchasing a subscription is designed as a last resort, and until now, all subscription purchases have been organic.
Number of Unique Users Who Purchased a Subscription At Least Once
Percentage of Variable Expenditure Covered by Subscription Revenue
Our variable expenditure encompasses the costs associated with compensating users for contributing and validating data. Our primary source of revenue is derived from the subscription fees paid by users. The data here indicates the proportion of our variable expenses, from the launch of Bolbhav to date, that has been offset by subscription revenue. Our objective is to reach a break-even point at the gross margin level by December 2024.
Daily count of subscription purchase
Notes on the data in this section:
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This graph displays the daily count of subscriptions purchased over the past 90 days.
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On 22nd March 2024, we sunsetted the application's freemium feature, which allowed users to access limited aggregated data for free. This has resulted in a spike in daily subscription purchases.
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On 6th April 2024, out of weekly, monthly and annual plans, we removed the weekly plan and increased the price for our annual plan. This has led to a dip in the count of subscriptions purchased on a given day.
Farmers stick around
and bring other farmers
Defying the stereotype that farmers avoid paying for information, our resubscription rate reveals their readiness to invest in actionable data. Given that the need for crop price data aligns with the harvesting season, our service sees longer than usual resubscription periods. With about 20% of users on annual plan, the upcoming year—spanning 3-4 harvest cycles and marking our second operational year—will offer deeper insights into our user resubscription trends.
Percentage of Subscribers Who Resubscribed
Bolbhav's beta version was first introduced to farmers in our established network, with no subsequent marketing activities. Over a quarter of our users joined Bolbhav through referrals. This highlights the critical role that community and word-of-mouth play in our expansion. This also reflects the trust and satisfaction within our user community, and its potential to drive organic growth and engagement.
Percentage of Users Who Came Via Referral
Notes on the data in this section:
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The datapoint "Percentage of users who came via referral" is calculated using app installed via referral and total unique phone numbers signed up.
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​A farmer may not need information on crop price everyday, hence for our product weekly user retention makes more sense.