1218122, 523 AM Indian agfitech DeHaal tops $700 millon valuation in $60 millon funding
Indian agritech DeHaat tops $700 million valuation in
$60 million funding
TE techerunch.com/2022111/30/ndlan-agitech-dehaat-tops-700-milion-valuaton-n-60-milion funding!
December 1, 2022
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DeHaat, a startup that offers a wide range of agricultural services to farmers in India, has
raised $60 million in a new funding round as it looks to deepen its penetration in the
country and reach break-even profitability within two years
Sofina Ventures and Temasek co-led the Patna and Gurgaon-headquartered startup's
Series E funding, it said, at a valuation between $700 million and $800 million, according
to a person familiar with the matter. Existing backers RTP Global Partners, Prosus
Ventures and Lightrock India also participated in the new round.
Farming is a $350 billion industry in India, but farmers face myriad challenges in the
country that were largely unaddressed until upstarts such as DeHaat arrived on the
scene. Farmers struggle with securing agri-inputs, finding buyers for their produce and in
maintaining enough runway.
Giants such as Reliance and Adani Group offer some services to farmers, but their
involvement in the agriculture sector remains largely limited. A fast-growing population
and climate change mean Indian farmers need to adopt technology quickly to improve —
and maintain — their yields.
hitps:lwwuprintrondly.comipigiMRgHg 121218/22, 523 AM Indian agfitech DeHaal tops $700 millon valuation in $60 millon funding
DeHaat uses artificial intelligence to help 1.5 million farmers across 11 states, 110,000
villages and more than 150 ZIP codes in India source raw materials, find advisory and
credit services, and sell crops
The startup has onboarded over 2,000 agricultural institutions, including input
manufacturers, food and consumer goods giants, banks and insurance firms. It works
with over 10,000 micro-entrepreneurs who help the startup run a maze of last-mile supply
chains.
In the past two years, DeHaat has aggressively expanded across several key Indian
states, and co-founder and chief executive Shashank Kumar told TechCrunch in an
interview that the startup will focus on deepening its presence across the ZIP codes
where it's already operational in the immediate future and reaching break-even
profitability in 12 months.
The new funding provides DeHaat with up to 40 months of runway, during which time
Kumar said the startup will be profitable. “At least for the next three to five months, we are
not adding any new geographies. We will continue to serve more farmers and broaden
our network of centers in the states where we are operational,” he said, DeHaat currently
doesn't have a presence in the Southern Indian states, Kumar said the startup is hopeful
to start expanding to those states after about a year.
Kumar acknowledged that raising funds in the current market scenario isn’t a walk in the
park. Funding inflows to local startups has shrunk by more than 80% as investors grow
cautious following a sharp reversal in the global market conditions.
“The lens is different — everyone is looking for assets that have a clear path to
profitability,” said Kumar. “In that way, DeHaat had its own advantage — our unit
economics are very strong, whatever burn we have is for adding geographies. We raised
the round to be ready for all the future opportunities,” he said, adding that DeHaat still has,
about two-thirds of the funds left from the previous $115 million funding round
He said the startup, whose name means village in Hindi, has acquired about half a dozen
firms in the recent quarters and sees more M&A potential on the horizon and is ready to
execute when it finds the right partners.
“With the intent to become a contributor to sustainable development goals, Sofina
supports organizations that have a positive impact on their communities and the
environment. We continue to be impressed by DeHaat's vision and endeavour to
empower farmers and local communities, and with this additional funding we hope to
create an even deeper and broader impact within the existing network as well as new
geographies,” said Yana Kachurina, principal at Sofina, in a statement.
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