Letter from the Founder | Janagaran

Let me tell you a story you probably won't find in typical startup origin tales. It's not about a Silicon Valley garage or a brilliant "aha" moment. It's about birds. Specifically, about the hens my mother raised in our backyard in a small village in Tamil Nadu.

Those birds were more than livestock. They were our family's hope. Every egg they laid, every chick they hatched—that was grocery money, school fees, a future that seemed impossible. They were the foundation that held our lives together.

I was the first person in my entire family to go to college. Not just any college—College of Engineering, Guindy. A dream so big that most people in our village didn't dare dream it. But my mother dared. And those birds made it possible.

The Weight of Success

I did what was expected. Built a career in technology. Worked on enterprise ERP systems across UAE, Oman, Malaysia, and several other countries. By conventional measures, I'd "made it." First-generation graduate. International career. Corporate success.

But something felt hollow. Missing the village soul. The metro rush felt empty. Vague dissatisfaction without clear answer.

COVID Forced My Hand

When the pandemic hit, I returned to my village. Not by choice initially—circumstances forced it. But maybe I needed that force. Maybe I'd been avoiding what I knew I had to do.

That's when I spent real time with my friend Prabharan. He runs a serious commercial poultry operation. 7 lakh birds. A ₹100 Crore+ annual turnover operation with 40 staff members.

And he was managing all of it on paper.

I watched Prabharan struggle. Late nights after 12-hour farm days. Lost tracking. No historical data. Just survival.

I saw the problem intellectually—tech person seeing tech gap.

The Dinner That Found My IKIGAI

I shared Prabharan's struggle with my mother over dinner. She listened quietly. Then:

"Mahane, the problems I faced raising those birds to feed you—he's facing the same, just bigger. You got educated because of those birds. You have the skill to heal this pain. If you don't use it for farmers like him, like I was—what was their sacrifice for?"

That moment.

I found my IKIGAI—where profession, passion, vocation, and mission converge. Not abstract debt. Not vague guilt. Clear purpose.

From that dinner forward, every choice became simple.

We Built PoultryCare Together

That's when PoultryCare ERP was born in 2022. Prabharan became an invaluable advisory board member and mentor. I brought the technology experience. He brought decades of farming wisdom. We built it together from the ground up.

It worked. Today, PoultryCare serves 35+ enterprise clients across 8 countries—Oman, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and others. We handle operations managing 12 lakh+ birds in layer farms, 800+ integrator farms, and feed mills with up to ₹1,000 Crore annual turnover.

Farmers who adopted it saw real results. Better tracking. Optimized operations. Data-driven decisions.

But our success revealed a harder truth. We were serving the privileged few who could afford enterprise solutions. The broader industry—the 60% independent farmers who needed help most—remained trapped.

The Bicycle Moment

Jobs once referenced research proving that bicycles transformed humans from 47th to 1st in efficiency among all species. Not through evolution. Through a tool that multiplied existing capability.

I asked myself: What's the bicycle for the poultry industry?

The answer hit me: Every stakeholder under one roof.

Individual farmers can't afford transformation alone. But what if they didn't have to? What if we assembled all the components—farmers, vets, vendors, researchers—into one ecosystem?

That's when PTIC was born.

The Moment That Made It Real

At PTSE 1st Edition on June 29, 2024, at Hotel Golden Palace in Namakkal, 800+ industry stakeholders gathered. I stood on that stage and announced PTIC's formation.

Then something happened that changed everything.

A veteran farmer stood up. Mr. Singaraj—30+ years in poultry, founding chairman of Ponni Group, NECC Namakkal chairman. A voice the industry respects.

"We lose thousands of birds to heat stroke. The information exists—somewhere in WhatsApp groups, somewhere with experts we cannot reach."

— Mr. Singaraj, PTSE 1st Edition

The room went silent.

That wasn't one farmer's problem. That was the entire industry crying out through one respected voice.

The Promise I Made

At PTSE 2nd Edition on January 25, 2025, at Hotel Le Meridien in Coimbatore, with Mr. Sivarajah (Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN) as chief guest, I stood on that same stage and made a public promise:

We will build the bridge Mr. Singaraj asked for.

February 2026. PTSE 3rd Edition. We're delivering.

What I'm Asking From You

I'm not asking you to invest money. I'm not asking you to take financial risk.

I'm asking you to join this platform and contribute your expertise.

Share what you know freely
Help farmers who face what you've already solved
Build your reputation through genuine contribution
Grow with the community

Individual success creates collective prosperity. That's not marketing speak. That's the fundamental philosophy of Grow Together®.

The Accountability Date

February 2026. PTSE 3rd Edition.

We made a promise. We set a timeline. We're accountable.

That date isn't just a launch event. It's proof that when the industry calls out in pain, someone listens, someone builds, someone delivers.

From Backyard Birds to Industry Transformation

My journey began with a mother's birds in a rural backyard. It led through corporate success and PoultryCare ERP serving operations across 8 countries. It crystallized with PTIC's formation. And now it's building that reality through PoultryCo.

This is why I'm leading PoultryCo.

Not as a business opportunity.
As an obligation to the birds that raised me.
As a debt to the mother who dared to dream.
As a bridge for the industry that's been waiting.

Join us. Not as users. As co-builders.

This transformation happens together, or not at all.

With gratitude and commitment,

Janagaran

Founder, PoultryCare ERP (35+ clients, 8+ countries)
Co-founder & Promoter, PoultryTech Innovation Council (PTIC)
Initiative Leader, PoultryCo Platform

P.S. If my mother's backyard hens could fund an engineering education, imagine what an entire industry working together could achieve. That's not hope. That's the mathematics of collaboration.

A Letter to the Poultry Community