Dehaat Raises $115 Million in Largest India Agritech Round

DeHaat Secures $115 Million in Agritech Funding

DeHaat, a comprehensive agricultural services platform for Indian farmers, has successfully raised $115 million. This represents the largest funding round to date for an agritech startup within India, a nation where agricultural produce accounts for approximately two-thirds of the country’s $1 trillion in annual retail expenditure.

Series D Funding Details

The Series D financing round was jointly led by Sofina and Lightrock. Temasek, alongside current investors including Prosus Ventures, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital India, and FMO, also contributed to this new investment.

To date, DeHaat has accumulated a total of $161 million in funding, with $157 million secured within the last 30 months.

Addressing Key Farmer Challenges

DeHaat, meaning "village" in Hindi, directly tackles three significant obstacles faced by Indian farmers – and those in similar agricultural economies. These include access to working capital, procurement of essential agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers, and the challenge of finding reliable buyers for their harvests.

Currently, only around one-third of the crops cultivated by Indian farmers successfully reach larger markets.

Platform Functionality and Reach

Headquartered in Gurgaon and Patna, the startup has consolidated agricultural input brands, financial institutions, and potential buyers onto a single platform.

Furthermore, DeHaat collaborates with a network of over 3,000 microentrepreneurs to facilitate last-mile aggregation and efficient delivery services.

Farmer Engagement and Technology

The company provides a dedicated helpline for direct farmer interaction. Additionally, DeHaat offers an Android application, available in multiple languages, to enhance accessibility.

Investor Perspective

Yana Kachurina, Principal at Sofina, stated that the company’s unique, full-stack approach, combined with a ‘phygital’ market strategy, confirms its potential to become a major force within the Indian agricultural sector.

Current Impact and Expansion Plans

DeHaat currently serves more than 650,000 farmers across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The platform features over 850 distinct agribusinesses.

Shashank Kumar, co-founder and CEO, revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that the newly acquired funds will be used to expand operations into all major agricultural regions of India.

The startup has experienced a fivefold growth in the last seven months.

The Growing Agritech Landscape in India

India’s agri-tech industry, following closely behind China, is attracting significant attention from both startups and established technology companies.

EY projects the industry’s revenue potential to reach approximately $24 billion by 2025.

Recent initiatives include Amazon’s provision of real-time advice to farmers and Microsoft’s AI-driven platform deployment across 100 villages.

DeHaat’s Team and Future Growth

“Our team now comprises over 850 professionals with specialized knowledge in areas such as growth strategy, supply chain management, technology, and agricultural science,” Kumar explained. The company is actively seeking to expand its talent pool.