DeHaat rakes in largest funding round in Indian agritech space

DeHaat, an online marketplace for farm services and products, has scooped up $115 million in what appears to be the largest funding round for an agritech startup in India. The company’s Series D round was led by Belgium based investment firm Sofina and Lightrock India. 

Temasek co-invested in the round, with participation from existing investors Prosus Ventures, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital India and FMO. The Patna and Gurugram-based startup had previously raised $30 million in its Series C round in January this year.

According to Entrackr's sources, DeHaat has raised the new round at over $500 million valuation.

DeHaat provides customised inputs, advising, financial services and market linkages to farmers for distribution. Importantly, it also connects farmers with third-party lenders for their working capital and large enterprises such as Reliance Fresh, Zomato and Udaan for bulk selling.

At present, it’s operational in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal with 350,000 farmers and aims to bring its services to 5 million farmers by 2024.

Earlier this year, DeHaat had acquired SaaS-based platform Farm Guide to provide satellite-based insights and advisory to farmers. According to the company’s press statement, it has recorded a 5X growth in the last seven months and aspires to continue similar growth momentum in the next 18-24 months.

While DeHaat did not share any revenue figures, it recorded operating revenue of Rs 125.18 crore in FY20 as compared to Rs 42.46 crore FY19. According to its last disclosed annual financial report, the company had registered a total expenditure of Rs 143.40 crore in FY20 which stood at Rs 45.63 crore in FY19.

The company incurred a 7X jump in its losses to Rs 18.15 crore in the financial year ending March 2020 from Rs 2.55 crore in the preceding fiscal.

Besides DeHaat, Nijacart’s $90 million Series C round and Waycool’s potential $50 million plus rounds are second and to be the third-largest fundraise in the agritech space. Entrackr had exclusively reported Waycool's potential round on October 13.

Ninjacart is valued at $500 million while Waycool’s valuation stood at $335 million in its last financing tranche.