DURBAN - DeHAAT, a technology-based platform offering end-to-end agricultural services to farmers in India yesterday said it had raised $30 million (about R450 million) in Series C funding, led by Prosus Ventures, formerly called Naspers Ventures.
RTP Global co-invested in the round with participation from existing investors, Sequoia India, FMO, Omnivore and AgFunder.
DeHaat co-founder and chief executive Shashank Kumar said the DeHaat value proposition was very well demonstrated at a sizeable scale. The firm was improving the livelihoods of Indian farmers and rural micro-entrepreneurs with the help of technology.
“The recent investment from marquee investors like Prosus Ventures, RTP Global and others is a strong validation of our goal to become the world’s largest farmer aggregator and will help us scale up in both size and scope,” said Kumar.
Based in Gurgaon and Patna, DeHaat was founded in 2012 by IIT, IIM, NIT alumni Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, Adarsh Srivastav and Shashank Kumar.
The company is a technology-based business to farmers platform that offers full-stack agricultural services to farmers, including distribution of high-quality agricultural inputs, customised farm advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling their produce.
DeHaat aimed to aggregate 10 million Indian farmers while helping them to also increase their profitability as the platform integrates a digital marketplace with a rural network of last-mile service delivery centres and connected various agricultural companies with farmers.
Prosus Ventures head of India Investments Ashutosh Sharma said Prosus Ventures invested in industries around the world where innovation can significantly address big societal need.
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