The journey of Dr. Chashi began in 2020 during the challenging early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded by Medina Ali, the company launched its a vision to revolutionize agriculture in Bangladesh through cutting-edge agrotech solutions. Coming from a family with over 45 years of experience in the agro industry—mainly in insecticides and pesticides—Medina had witnessed firsthand the gaps in knowledge and the challenges faced by farmers and dealers alike.

When Medina moved to Bangladesh in 2020, she was determined to address these issues. Farmers often lacked real-time assistance in crop health diagnosis and product usage, leading to overuse or misuse of insecticides and pesticides, which resulted in health hazards and inefficiencies. Dealers, too, often sold products based on popularity rather than effectiveness. With these problems in mind, Genius Farms developed Dr. Chashi, an AI-driven app designed to provide real-time crop health diagnosis, recommend solutions (organic or chemical), suggest appropriate dosages, and connect farmers to nearby stores with the necessary products.

However, launching Dr. Chashi wasn’t without challenges. From the outset, Medina Ali and her team committed to not charging farmers, as it was against their ethos. Instead, Genius Farms pursued a B2B business model, offering custom solutions to companies and organizations working with contract farmers. Convincing stakeholders of this approach was initially difficult, but as the company gained clients and demonstrated the value of its model, acceptance grew.