This is DeHaat’s seventh acquisition deal overall and fourth in the output domain post the twin acquisitions of YCook India Pvt Ltd and FieldFresh Foods last year
Bleak funding prospects, operational inefficiency and the pressure to grow rapidly have slowed DeHaat’s relentless march. Moneycontrol spoke to stakeholders, industry watchers, and experts to get a closer look at the troubles that are dogging the agritech ‘soonicorn’.
DeHaat will also hit positive EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) by the end of this calendar year, he highlighted.
Agritech was an outlier on the growth front in the Indian startup world that saw setbacks and a funding crunch this year.
Moneycontrol reported on October 21 that DeHaat had raised $45.8 million led by Sofina Ventures, according to the company’s regulatory filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). This, however, was a part of a larger round, and the company today shared the entire fundraise amount in a statement. The company did not disclose if there was a revision in the valuation with additional funding coming in.
In a statement, DeHaat said "it has raised USD 60 million in a new financing round." Sofina Ventures and Temasek co-led the Series E funding, with other existing investors RTP Global Partners, Prosus Ventures and Lightrock India also participating in the round.
Sofina Ventures led the round with Rs 240 crore, while RTP Global Partners, Prosus, and Lightrock India contributed Rs 48 crore, Rs 32 crore, and Rs 46.6 crore, respectively.
It is another cautionary tale of ambitious startups that attempted to conquer new markets and grow rapidly only to come up against a funding winter amid global market turmoil this year.
Founder and CEO Shashank Kumar confirms layoffs but says the number is not in triple digits. DeHaat raised $115 million in 2021 in what was the largest funding round for an Indian agritech startup
With the integration of Helicrofter, encompassing 2000+ agri-input retailers and 30 sellers across Maharashtra, DeHaat CEO Shashank Kumar said the company has added another major agriculture belt to its geographical footprint.
DeHaat is a technology-based platform offering full-stack agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high-quality Agri inputs and market linkages for selling their produce.