Abhi Ramesh, the mastermind behind Misfits Market, had an epiphany while standing in a Pennsylvania apple orchard. He noticed a pile of perfectly good apples left to rot on the ground simply because they didn’t meet the market’s aesthetic standards. This observation led him to launch Misfits Market, a startup that aims to prevent produce from going to waste.

Abhi’s entrepreneurial journey began with selling textbooks online in college, followed by an SAT tutoring service and a coding boot camp called Horizons School of Tech. But he wanted to create something more meaningful.

Abhi established connections with organic farmers in the region, convincing them to sell him their “ugly” produce at rock-bottom prices. He took a gamble by investing heavily in Misfits Market, building a pre-order page on Shopify, spending $1,000 on ads, and even applying for five credit cards. Fortunately, his close friend Edward Lando became an angel investor, allowing the company to pay off its debts and purchase inventory.

Initially, Misfits Market shipped only five boxes of produce per week, but the business quickly gained traction. Abhi quit his job as an investment analyst at Apollo, a private equity firm, and the company took off.

Misfits Market outgrew its tiny 700 sq. ft. storage space in just one year and moved to a 10,000 sq. ft. facility. Today, the company has over 1,000 employees and has raised more than $300 million in funding. According to Your Story, the startup is valued at $2 billion (approx. Rs. 16000 Cr) today.

Misfits Market sources its products directly from farmers and markets, allowing farmers to earn more while providing customers with fresh, nutritious, and affordable produce.