Exclusive: DeHaat initiates Series E round led by Sofina Ventures

Full-stack agritech platform DeHaat has raised Rs 366.6 crore or $46 million led by Sofina Ventures. This is the second round of funding for the Patna and Gurugram-based company within a year.

The board at DeHaat has passed a special resolution to 2,69,192 Series E preference shares at an issue price of Rs 13,620 per share to raise Rs 366 crore or $46 million, a regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies shows.

Sofina Ventures led the round with Rs 240 crore while RTP Global Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures) and Lightrock India pumped in Rs 48 crore, Rs 32 crore, and Rs 46.6 crore respectively.

Following the investment, Sofina Ventures will hold 11.73% of the stake while Naspers, RTP Global, and Lightrock India will command 11.04%, 5.22%, and 6.43% of the share capital respectively after the allotment.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around $700 million, post-money. Sofina and Lightrock India led a $115 million Series D round in the company in October 2021.

The company is reportedly in talks to raise a new round at a unicorn 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, the company is 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.

While DeHaat is yet to file its financial statements for FY22, the operating revenue of the startup surged by 186.2% to Rs 358.3 crore in FY21. The company’s annual losses was Rs 54.2 crore during the fiscal year.

Valuation wise, DeHaat is only behind Ninjacart which is valued at $815 million. Waycool and Absolute are valued at around $700 million and $500 million respectively. Tiger Global-backed Ninjacart raised $9 million in fresh investment in May whereas Wacool received $40 million led by 57 Stars Global in June. Absolute also announced a $100 million round from Sequoia, Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global in May. The Indian startup ecosystem is yet to see a unicorn from the agritech space.

Update: The story has been updated to reflect the current valuation of Waycool.