Sofina, Lightrock lead $115m round for India's DeHaat
Sofina and Lightrock India have led a $115 million Series D round for Indian agricultural technology provider DeHaat. It is described as the country's largest-ever agtech round.
Temasek Holdings, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital India, and FMO also participated. They were joined by Prosus Ventures, formerly a VC arm of Naspers, which led a $30 million Series C in January.
DeHaat claims to be the leading agtech platform in India, connecting 650,000 farmers with 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs such as last-mile delivery drivers. It employs a staff of about 850 and claims to have seen 5x growth in the past seven months. There are plans to expand the network to up to 10 million farmers.
The core offering is a B2B marketplace for farmers that facilitates distribution, operational advisory services, access to financial services, and market linkages. Crops are shipped directly to more than 500 commodity bulk buyers, including retail chains, e-commerce players, large fast-moving consumer goods companies, and small to medium-sized food processors.
“Through our due diligence, we became convinced that DeHaat is bringing substantial value-add to the farming community in India,” Yana Kachurina, a principal at Sofina, said in a statement. “The uniqueness of its full-stack approach combined with 'phygital' go-to-market strategy further reaffirmed our view that the company is on track to become a significant player in the farming industry in India.”
DeHaat believes its addressable market is worth $350 billion. Similar PE-backed operators include VeGrow, which focuses on small farm aggregation, and Bijak, a crop trading platform, and WayCool Foods, a farm-to-vendor marketplace. RTP and Sequoia India are also investors in Bijak, as is DeHaat backer Omnivore Capital. FMO is also an investor in WayCool.
Belgium’s Sofina is an active investor in India, with portfolio companies including the likes of make-up brand MyGlamm, news app Dailyhunt, beer maker B9 Beverages, and credit card rewards company Cred.
Lightrock, formerly LGT Lightstone Aspada, is a UK-based investor focused on sustainability. It launched its India business in 2011.
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