Investors, including Sofina, Lightrock, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Omnivore Partners, and FMO, have contributed $221 million to DeHaat so far.
According to CEO Shashank Kumar, the income of agritech company DeHaat is expected to increase by over 80% this fiscal year to over Rs 2,300 crore due to improved sales of farm inputs to farmers and trading of agricultural products in domestic and international markets.
He emphasized that by the end of this calendar year, DeHaat will also achieve positive EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization).
DeHaat is a technologically based business-to-farmer platform that provides farmers with a full selection of agricultural services. They include providing access to high-quality agricultural products, individualized farm advice, financial services, and market connections to sell their produce.
Investors, including Sofina, Lightrock, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Omnivore Partners, and FMO, have contributed $221 million to DeHaat so far.
"In the previous fiscal, we generated about Rs 1,250 crore in revenue. This fiscal year, income is significantly increasing and is expected to reach over Rs 2,300 crore, "Kumar stated in an interview with PTI.
He says roughly 70% of the overall revenue would come from selling farm products purchased directly from farmers. The other 30% would come from selling farmers' inputs like seeds and agrochemicals.
In the fiscal year 2022–2023, Kumar stated that the company would also export agricultural products worth Rs 60–65 crore, primarily fruits, and vegetables. However, when questioned about the company's profitability, he responded, "We will turn EBIDTA-positive by December 2023."
DeHaat increased the network of DeHaa Centers, which are owned and operated by rural business owners under a franchising system, from 5,800 at the start of the current fiscal year to more than 11,000.
By this month's end, there will be 12,500 DeHaat Centers spread throughout 12 states, according to Kumar. Additionally, he stated that the business had onboarded more than 500 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), which are eligible to use all of the platform's services.
Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar Singh, Adarsh Srivastav, and Shashank Kumar, all graduates of the IIT, IIM, and NIT, created the DeHaat organization, which has offices in Patna, Bihar, and Gurugram, Haryana.
With the help of DeHaat Centers, it serves over 18 lakh farmers. When asked about fund-raising, Kumar responded that there is currently no strategy. He claimed that the last two Series D and E investment rounds have already left us with enough money.
The company secured $60 million in a Series E investment in November last year. In addition, DeHaat has onboarded over 2,000 agribusiness institutions as partners to promote efficiency and transparency, including input manufacturers, FMCG companies, banks, insurance partners, and bulk output exporters.
DeHaan provides farmers with AI-enabled crop advising for more than 30 crops in local languages.
"We don't charge farmers anything for advisories. So it is free, "said Kumar.
