Indian agritech DeHaat tops $700 million valuation in $60 million funding
Summary
A fast-growing population and climate change mean Indian farmers need to adopt technology quickly to improve and maintain their yields.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. 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 isnt 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. 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 DeHaats 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.