Muhammed Bukhari

co-founder and CEO of Farmdar

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Muhammed Bukhari is the co-founder and CEO of Farmdar, a company whose head office is in Karachi. Born in Karachi, he spent 22 years in London and worked at British Telecom, where his last role was GM Commercial for Broadband in the UK. Farmdar describes itself as a digital-first test and diagnostic company for now.

Early life and background

Bukhari was born in Karachi. His family moved to Lahore when he was about four or five years old, and he lived in Lahore until he finished his A levels. His family background is farming, with roots in Sadiqabad on his mother's side and Sheikhupura on his father's side. [1]

Education

Bukhari attended Beaconhouse Garden Town Branch for school. He has said he still keeps in touch with school friends he met in class two, and he has described Beaconhouse as a grounded school with students from every walk of life. He completed his O levels in about 1996 or 1997 and his A levels in 1999. [1]

Bukhari studied economics at Queen Mary, University of London. He has said he was not very academically focused and was often distracted by projects. [1]

Career

Bukhari began working part-time for a startup in his second year of university. During his third year he began working full-time at a startup, neglecting that year of study. He began at the startup by stacking shelves in its stockroom and ended up helping on multiple fundraising rounds. He said the startup's last funding round was about 90 million pounds. [1]

Bukhari did an internship at a bank in Pakistan. He found the bank work one of the most boring things he had done. [1]

Bukhari joined a London office, where he spent three years, mostly in healthcare, improving hospitals. He has said that a lot of travelling was involved and that he was trying to raise a family at the time. [1]

British Telecom

Bukhari joined British Telecom (BT) through its Future Leaders Programme. At BT he worked in Openreach, the division that provides broadband. He started on BT's finance side and later moved to commercial work. His last role at BT was GM Commercial for Broadband in the UK, and he was responsible for creating broadband products that customers connect to at home. He said his work at BT was clean, with a good impact. [1]

Farming and mangoes

The family gave its mango orchards to traders. They started by exporting their own mangoes to the UK, at a time when Bukhari was based in London. He said they believed their mangoes were the best in the world, and he found that the mangoes were at the bottom of the pile and that their quality was really poor. [1]

They installed a blast chiller at the farm to pre-cool the mangoes after harvesting. They tried reefer containers and modified atmosphere containers. Bukhari then went to Turkey, where he said amazing packaging is available, called modified atmosphere packaging. He said they learned that shelf life could be extended by one to two weeks. He said that about two years earlier they sent containers of Chaunsa mangoes to the UAE. [1]

Bukhari said supply chain work was not the answer to the quality problem, and that extending shelf life does not fix poor underlying quality. He said appearance is the first part of produce quality. He said people should be taught otherwise, but appearance drives buying in the market. He said there is no consistency in the way mangoes are growing, and that pruning a tree and managing its fruit load gives better sized fruit. [1]

They bought a drone and a multi-spectral camera and flew the drone themselves. They also began experiments with satellite imagery, installed sensors and looked at weather stations. Bukhari said that after about 18 months of doing this they saw a step change. He said they used about 50 percent less water and saved about 30 percent on fertilizer, and that their quality improved, their yield improved, their input costs fell and their water efficiency increased. [1]

Farmdar

Bukhari said Farmdar is essentially a deep tech company with AI workflows. It employs data scientists and machine learning engineers. Its head office is in Karachi, with offices in Islamabad and Lahore. [1]

Bukhari said a satellite image provides up to 21 different bands of light, and that the best device that can be put in soil is a plant. He said they can proactively identify where there is a risk of disease. Farmdar has a report that it calls the plant stress report. He said trees that need water are watered and trees that do not need water are not, irrespective of what the soil looks like. [1]

Farmdar runs a direct-to-farmer channel with five products. One product is a nitrogen level report that helps farmers apply fertilizer. Farmdar is free for most farmers, who only need to register. Farmers mark the boundary of their field, and weekly reports then start being generated for them. Bukhari said Farmdar's analysis found an average land holding of about 5 to 6 acres. [1]

Farmdar has a partner that makes specialty fertilizer, which Bukhari said is very good for Pakistani soils. Its business-to-business work includes on-demand analytics and bespoke projects for agri businesses. Its business customers include food processors that handle sugarcane, wheat and rice. Bukhari said Farmdar is an open, collaborative organization that likes partnerships, and that it is building a data repository that it expects to monetize at some stage. [1]

Farmdar recently closed its first funding round. The round was $1.3 million, led by Indus Valley Capital and one other lead investor. Other notable investors in the round include Deosai Ventures. Bukhari said Farmdar got to pick its investors. He said that one use of the funds is to buy data, such as satellite imagery, and that a second use is hiring really top quality talent. [1]

Bukhari said he has committed fully to Farmdar, comparing it to burning his boats. He said he believes Farmdar can become a unicorn. [1]

Views

Bukhari believes Pakistan's unfair advantage is agriculture. He said Pakistan has the means to feed people around the world and that the only people who can hold Pakistan back are Pakistanis. He said Pakistan has the potential to become a world leader in agriculture. He said a lot has to go right for that, and that it is a stretch. He said Pakistan's geopolitics is complex and plays a part. He said Pakistani people are very entrepreneurial and strong at tech, and that women make up 60 percent of the agricultural workforce. He said he is 70 percent optimistic. [1]

Personal life

Bukhari spent 22 years in London. He has described London as his home until quite recently. He moved to Pakistan from London, about ten days before he spoke of it. He moved to Pakistan with his wife and children. [1]

Timeline

1996 or 1997
Completed his O levels[1]
1999
Completed his A levels[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-06-20 Pakistan's farms are top 10 in output, bottom 50 in yield Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Muhammed Bukhari?

Muhammed Bukhari is the co-founder and CEO of Farmdar. He was born in Karachi and spent 22 years in London. Farmdar's head office is in Karachi.[1]

What does Muhammed Bukhari do?

Muhammed Bukhari is the co-founder and CEO of Farmdar. He said Farmdar is essentially a deep tech company with AI workflows. Farmdar describes itself as a digital-first test and diagnostic company for now.[1]

Where did Muhammed Bukhari study?

Muhammed Bukhari studied economics at Queen Mary, University of London. For school he attended Beaconhouse Garden Town Branch. He completed his A levels in 1999.[1]

Where is Muhammed Bukhari from?

Muhammed Bukhari was born in Karachi. His family moved to Lahore when he was about four or five years old, and he lived in Lahore until he finished his A levels. His family background is farming, with roots in Sadiqabad on his mother's side and Sheikhupura on his father's side.[1]

What company did Muhammed Bukhari found?

Muhammed Bukhari is a co-founder of Farmdar and serves as its CEO. Farmdar runs a direct-to-farmer channel with five products. It is free for most farmers, who only need to register.[1]

Where has Muhammed Bukhari worked?

Muhammed Bukhari joined British Telecom (BT) through its Future Leaders Programme and worked in Openreach, the division that provides broadband. His last role at BT was GM Commercial for Broadband in the UK. He began working part-time for a startup in his second year of university.[1]

How much funding has Farmdar raised?

Farmdar recently closed its first funding round. The round was $1.3 million, led by Indus Valley Capital and one other lead investor. Other notable investors in the round include Deosai Ventures.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan's farms are top 10 in output, bottom 50 in yield . Thought Behind Things , 2022-06-20.
Show the source passages (95 statements)
  1. Bukhari was born in Karachi. Uh toh ji main meri paidaish Karachi mein thi.
  2. His family moved to Lahore when he was about four or five years old. Uh I think main char ya panch saal ka tha jab mere parents Lahore shift hue.
  3. He lived in Lahore until he finished his A levels. And uh phir main uh actually through my early life Lahore mein hi raha uh until my A levels.
  4. He attended Beaconhouse Garden Town Branch for school. Yeh Beaconhouse Garden Town Branch.
  5. He has said he still keeps in touch with school friends he met in class two. still friends that I have that, you know, I knew from class two.
  6. He has described Beaconhouse as a grounded school with students from every walk of life. woh ek bohat grounded sa school tha. Right? Uh students aur mere jo friends the, woh har walks of life se the.
  7. He completed his O levels in about 1996 or 1997. I with 96, 97 really I meant my O levels.
  8. He completed his A levels in 1999. Uh 99 mein maine apne A levels complete kiye.
  9. He studied economics at Queen Mary, University of London. Uh for my bachelors, I went to Queen Mary, University of London. Uh wahan se maine economics ki degree ki
  10. He has said he was not very academically focused and was often distracted by projects. main uh academically orientated kabhi zyada nahi tha. Uh I used to get distracted with sort of projects and things like that.
  11. He began working part-time for a startup in his second year of university. Toh uh apne second year mein maine ek startup ke sath kaam karna shuru kar diya uh on a part-time basis to begin with
  12. During his third year he began working full-time at a startup, neglecting that year of study. aur phir apne third year ko bohat zyada neglect kar ke full-time maine ek startup ke sath wahan pe kaam karna shuru kar diya.
  13. He did an internship at a bank in Pakistan. maine in fact yahan pe Pakistan mein ek bank mein internship ki thi.
  14. He found the bank work one of the most boring things he had done. Aur it was one of the most boring things that I ever did in my life.
  15. He began at the startup by stacking shelves in its stockroom. Actually maine shuru mein shelves stack kiye us startup ke stockroom ke andar.
  16. He ended up helping on multiple fundraising rounds. I ended up sort of helping on multiple fundraising rounds.
  17. He said the startup's last funding round was about 90 million pounds. Toh hamara jo aakhri round tha, woh takriban 90 million pound ka tha.
  18. He joined a London office, where he spent three years, mostly in healthcare, improving hospitals. Toh maine London office join kiya. Wahan pe maine teen saal lagaye, mostly in healthcare, improving hospitals
  19. He has said that a lot of travelling was involved and that he was trying to raise a family at the time. there was a lot of traveling involved. I was uh trying to raise a family at the time.
  20. He joined British Telecom (BT) through its Future Leaders Programme. maine British Telecom, BT, ko join kiya. Toh unke talent pool mein unka ek program hota tha, Future Leaders Program, uske upar maine join kiya.
  21. At BT he worked in Openreach, the division that provides broadband. I ended up actually in uh one of the divisions, which is called Openreach, jo broadband basically provide karta hai.
  22. He started on BT's finance side and later moved to commercial work. initially main finance wali side pe tha. Phir wahan se main nikla aur main commercial side pe aa gaya
  23. His last role at BT was GM Commercial for Broadband in the UK. mera jo last role tha, woh GM Commercial for Broadband in the UK tha.
  24. At BT he was responsible for creating broadband products that customers connect to at home. uh I was responsible for creating products that actually people connect to in their homes
  25. He said his work at BT was clean, with a good impact. And it was good clean work. You know, koi usmein uh you know, uh I never sort of had any burden on my conscience that I was involved in something that was, you know, not uh completely clean and uh had a good impact.
  26. He has described London as his home until quite recently. Uh it was a my home until quite recently but it's definitely like my second home now.
  27. He spent 22 years in London. Spending 22 years in London
  28. He moved to Pakistan from London, about ten days before the recording. Uh main actually abhi recently London se move hua hoon. Mujhe takriban das din hue hain
  29. He moved to Pakistan with his wife and children. Nahi ji. Uh lock, stock, and barrel uh with my wife and kids.
  30. His family background is farming, with roots in Sadiqabad on his mother's side and Sheikhupura on his father's side. my family background is farming uh Sadiqabad uh from my mother's side and uh Sheikhupura from my father's side.
  31. The family gave its mango orchards to traders. Uh jo hamare mango ke orchards the, woh hum wepariyon ko de dete the.
  32. They started by exporting their own mangoes to the UK, at a time when he was based in London. humne apne mangoes ke sath shuru kiya, unko humne UK export kiya. Us waqt main London mein baitha hota tha.
  33. He said they believed their mangoes were the best in the world. hum log yeh samajhte the ke ji hamare mangoes toh best in the world hain.
  34. He found that their mangoes were at the bottom of the pile and that their quality was really poor. mujhe pata laga ke actually hamare mangoes toh bottom of the pile hain. Uh you know, unki quality was really poor.
  35. They installed a blast chiller at the farm to pre-cool the mangoes after harvesting. So, we installed a blast chiller at the farm to pre-cool the mangoes after harvesting.
  36. They tried reefer containers and modified atmosphere containers. uh humne reefer containers try kiye, humne modified atmosphere containers try kiye.
  37. He then went to Turkey, where he said amazing packaging is available, called modified atmosphere packaging. Uh uske baad main Turkey gaya, main Turkey se amazing packaging milti hai, modified atmosphere packaging.
  38. He said they learned that shelf life could be extended by one to two weeks. definitely hamein yeh cheez pata lagi ke aap shelf life ek hafte se ya do hafte se elongate kar sakte ho.
  39. He said that about two years earlier they sent containers of Chaunsa mangoes to the UAE. I think two years ago, we actually sent containers of Chaunsa mangoes to the UAE.
  40. He said supply chain work was not the answer to the quality problem. but actually back to my earlier point, supply chain is not the answer.
  41. He said extending shelf life does not fix poor underlying quality. Lekin agar aapke product ki underlying quality hi kharab hai, toh aap woh gande quality ki cheez ki shelf life ko elongate kar rahe ho.
  42. He said appearance is the first part of produce quality. quality mein sabse pehle aati hai us produce ki look.
  43. He said people should be taught otherwise, but appearance drives buying in the market. I think people should be taught otherwise but that is the reality.
  44. He said there is no consistency in the way mangoes are growing. Aapke consistency hi nahi hai in the way that mangoes are growing,
  45. He said pruning a tree and managing its fruit load gives better sized fruit. If a tree is actually grown in a way jahan pe aap usko kind of prune karte ho aur uske fruit ko manage karte ho, you will get better sized fruit.
  46. They bought a drone and a multi-spectral camera and flew the drone themselves. Humne ja ke drone khareeda, ek multi-spectral camera khareeda, us drone ko khud udaya
  47. They also began experiments with satellite imagery, installed sensors and looked at weather stations. Uh humne satellite imagery ko ke sath experiments karne shuru kar diye, humne sensors lagaye, uh weather stations ko dekha
  48. He said that after about 18 months of doing this they saw a step change. And after about 18 months of doing that, we saw step change.
  49. He said they used about 50 percent less water. Uh hamara paani takriban 50% kam lag raha tha.
  50. He said they saved about 30 percent on fertilizer. Uh hamara fertilizer bach raha tha about 30%.
  51. He said their quality improved, their yield improved, their input costs fell and their water efficiency increased. hamari quality behtar ho gayi, hamari yield behtar ho gayi, hamari input costs kam ho gayin aur hamari paani ki efficiency zyada ho gayi.
  52. He said a satellite image provides up to 21 different bands of light. Satellite image ke andar aapko up to 21 different bands of light milti hain.
  53. He said the best device that can be put in soil is a plant. So uh the best device that you can put in a soil is a plant.
  54. He said they can proactively identify where there is a risk of disease. hum actually proactively identify kar sakte hain ki ji yahan pe risk of disease hai.
  55. Farmdar has a report that it calls the plant stress report. We call it the plant stress report.
  56. He said trees that need water are watered and trees that do not need water are not, irrespective of what the soil looks like. So what ends up happening is you water trees that need water, you don't water trees that don't need water, irrespective of what the soil looks like.
  57. He said Farmdar is essentially a deep tech company with AI workflows. hamari company is essentially a deep tech company. Humne AI workflows banayi hui hain
  58. Farmdar employs data scientists and machine learning engineers. hamare paas data scientists aur machine learning engineers hain jinka kaam hi yeh hai.
  59. Farmdar runs a direct-to-farmer channel with five products. So hamare do channels hain. We have a direct to farmer channel. Aur usmein we have basically five products.
  60. One Farmdar product is a nitrogen level report that helps farmers apply fertilizer. Uh isi tarah ek nitrogen level ki report hai jo farmer use kar sakta hai to apply fertilizer more intelligently.
  61. Farmdar is free for most farmers, who only need to register. Uh by the way for most farmers we are free. Uh so they don't have to subscribe to anything. All they have to do is register.
  62. Farmers mark the boundary of their field, and weekly reports then start being generated for them. apni field ki boundary mark kar dete hain aur unko weekly reports generate hona shuru ho jaati hain.
  63. He said it is personalised down to meters. It's personalized down to meters.
  64. He said Farmdar's analysis found an average land holding of about 5 to 6 acres. hamara I think average land holding at least jahan pe humne analysis ki aur humne dekha hai, taqreeban 5 se 6 acre hai.
  65. He said Farmdar is building a data repository that it expects to monetize at some stage. Uh so we are creating a repository of data and we know that at some stage we will be able to monetize that farmer's data somehow.
  66. Farmdar has a partner that makes specialty fertilizer, which he said is very good for Pakistani soils. Toh hamare ek partner hain for example Vital Agri Nutrients. Woh specialty fertilizer banate hain jo Pakistani soils ke liye bahut achi hai.
  67. He said Farmdar is an open, collaborative organization that likes partnerships. But we are a very open collaborative organization. We like partnerships.
  68. Farmdar describes itself as a digital-first test and diagnostic company for now. at this point in time we are a test and diagnostic digital first company.
  69. Farmdar's B2B work includes on-demand analytics and bespoke projects for agri businesses. unko hum log uh on demand analytics dete hain, unke liye bespoke projects bhi karte hain.
  70. Farmdar's B2B customers include food processors that handle sugarcane, wheat and rice. food processors, uh people who take crops like sugarcane or wheat or rice
  71. Farmdar recently closed its first funding round. we uh recently closed our first ever funding round.
  72. The round was $1.3 million, led by Indus Valley Capital and one other lead investor. Uh it was $1.3 million led by uh Indus Valley Capital and Atif Awan
  73. Other notable investors in the round include Deosai Ventures. other kind of notable investors like uh Sheryar Haidri and Deosai Ventures
  74. He said Farmdar got to pick its investors. We got to pick our investors. Uh toh humne aise logon ko select kiya hai jaise for example LMKR.
  75. He said that one use of the funds is to buy data, such as satellite imagery. Ek toh we buy data. So satellite imagery and things like that
  76. He said that a second use is hiring really top quality talent. secondly, we are hiring really really top quality talent.
  77. Bukhari is the co-founder and CEO of Farmdar. He's the co-founder of Farmdar uh and the CEO as well
  78. Farmdar's head office is in Karachi, with offices in Islamabad and Lahore. Uh we our head office is Karachi but we actually have an office Islamabad mein bhi aur Lahore mein bhi.
  79. He said he spent roughly three to four months, or six months, working on this from London. kyunki main takriban ek uh you could say three to four months or six months, something like that, uh London mein baith ke yeh kaam kar raha tha.
  80. He said luck was also very much involved. magar nahi thi. I think ismein luck bhi bohat involved tha.
  81. He said he has committed fully to Farmdar, comparing it to burning his boats. Apne existing kaam ke saath main boats jala ke aa gaya hoon.
  82. He said he believes Farmdar can become a unicorn. we believe we can be a unicorn.
  83. He believes Pakistan's unfair advantage is agriculture. I believe Pakistan's unfair advantage is agriculture.
  84. He said Pakistan has the means to feed people around the world. We actually have the means, humein ne'mat mili hui hai ke hum duniya ke logon ko khana khila sakte hain.
  85. He said the only people who can hold Pakistan back are Pakistanis. The only people who can hold us back is us.
  86. He said Pakistan has the potential to become a world leader in agriculture. I think Pakistan has the potential to be a world leader.
  87. He said a lot has to go right for that, and that it is a stretch. a lot has to go right for that to happen, um and I think it's probably a little bit of a stretch.
  88. He said Pakistan's geopolitics is complex and plays a part. Pakistan ki geopolitics bhi kaafi complex hai and I think, you know, that plays a part.
  89. He said Pakistani people are very entrepreneurial and strong at tech. we are amazing at tech. Pakistani people are very entrepreneurial.
  90. He said women make up 60 percent of the agricultural workforce. 60% of women, uh 60% of the workforce in agriculture are women.
  91. He said he is 70 percent optimistic. Uh I would say I'm 70% optimistic.
  92. He encourages young people to see agriculture and tech as an emerging area. So, I would really encourage young people to start thinking about agriculture and tech in Pakistan
  93. He advises startups to pick one strength and prove it in depth. Apna aap ek strength pick karein. Us cheez ko zara aap actually depth ke andar prove out karein yahan pe.
  94. He said startups should not try to do everything at the same time. if you try and do everything at the same time, it's too vast an area for you to actually be successful.
  95. He said he would love to see some collaboration in Pakistan. So, what I would love to see in Pakistan is actually some collaboration