‘We gave it everything in Chennai but…’: Startup relocates to Bengaluru, founder explains ‘why’

Despite the headquarters moving, Fragaria will continue to run its R&D farm in Chennai.

Chennai-based agritech startup Fragaria is shifting its headquarters to Bengaluru, founder Harish Varadharajan announced in a widely shared post on LinkedIn and X.

The move comes as part of the company’s strategy to tap into better market opportunities, favourable agriculture policies, and Bengaluru’s thriving startup ecosystem.

Varadharajan explained that while Chennai has been home to Fragaria’s journey in building a global product and successfully cultivating strawberries under challenging conditions, several factors made relocating to Bengaluru necessary.

“In Chennai, we gave it our all, building a global product and cultivating strawberries against all odds. But the climate, market access, supportive agriculture laws, expat livability, and Bengaluru’s thriving startup ecosystem have made the move inevitable,” he wrote.

Despite the headquarters moving, Fragaria will continue to run its R&D farm in Chennai.

“Fragaria is moving to Bengaluru! As a Tamil boy, I dreamt of building a truly global product right from Tamil Nadu. We gave it everything in Chennai, and proved premium strawberries can be grown here against all odds.

That said, Chennai will always be our first home. Our R&D farm will continue there, and I hope to find many more reasons to bring farms back to Tamil Nadu in the future,” he said in his LinkedIn post.

Recently, Bengaluru-based logistics company BlackBuck drew attention over speculation that it might leave the city due to infrastructure concerns.

The company CEO and co-founder Rajesh Yabaji clarified that the company is not leaving Bengaluru, but relocating offices within the city to ease employee commutes.

He emphasised Bengaluru as “home” and credited its tech ecosystem for supporting BlackBuck’s growth since its founding in 2015. He added that while parts of operations would remain on the Outer Ring Road, the company was committed to expanding in Bengaluru and collaborating with local authorities.

The clarification came after Yabaji highlighted the poor road conditions in the ORR-Bellandur area.