WayCool Foods Receives $117 Million in Largest Agritech Funding Round

WayCool, a fresh produce delivery business, has raised $117 million in a Series D fundraising round, surpassing DeHaat's $115 million to become India's largest agritech funding round to date.

The financing, which we originally reported last week, included LightRock, LightBox, FMO, Lightsmith, IFC, Redwood Equity Partners, and Gawa Capital.

WayCool is an omnichannel fresh produce firm founded in 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari that distributes farm-sourced fruits, vegetables, and other products to various retail stores. According to its website, the agritech business has over 16,500 clients and runs over 27 distribution centres across the South.

It presently handles over 350 tonnes of food goods every day, thanks to a network of over 50k farmers spread across the country's 50 geographical areas. Rice, legumes, wheat, flour, and dairy products account for the majority of its output.

Lightbox, based in Mumbai, has previously invested $15.4 million in WayCool's current round, bringing the firm's total investment in the venture to $35.4 million. Dunzo and Droom, which is about to go public, are two more Lightbox startups.

WayCool raised $7.8 million in debt capital from Samunnati, RBL Bank, and InnoVen Capital almost a year ago. The loan money would be used to satisfy the startup's working capital needs as well as to increase automation in its existing distribution centres and warehouses.

India's agriculture sector is worth $370 billion dollars, employing over 40% of the population and providing 19.9% of the country's GDP. Despite its importance, the sector continues to be plagued by structural flaws that limit production. As a result, India's agricultural sector is in desperate need of technological advancement.

In the country, there are over 1,300 agritech businesses that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT) to solve sector-specific difficulties.

We reported the exclusive storey of Agrostar raising $70 million in Series D funding from Evolvence, global asset manager Schroders Capital, Hero Enterprise, and the United Kingdom's development finance organization CDC last week on the same day.

Existing Investors including Aavishkaar Capital, Accel, Bertelsmann, Chiratae Ventures, and Rabo Frontier Ventures also participated in Agrostar’s Series D funding round.

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