Waycool Foods and Products Pvt. Ltd, which operates fresh-produce distributor WayCool, has raised $5.5 million (approximately Rs 41.67 crore at current exchange rates) in debt funding from the impact investment arm of IndusInd Bank Ltd.
This debt financing is guaranteed by the United States International Development Finance Corporation, an arm of the US government that provides finance to impact-oriented projects.
The Chennai-based company said in a statement it will use the funds to introduce new technologies to its platform, enhance hygiene measures, improve transport efficiency and strengthen its food distribution processes in its target markets.
“WayCool has been steadily building necessary technology and operational capabilities to operate robust agri-food supply chains from soil to sale,” Karthik Jayaraman, co-founder and CEO at WayCool, said.
The debt infusion comes after the Chennai-based WayCool in February raised Rs 227 crore (around $32 million) in a combination of equity and debt funding led by venture capital firm Lightbox.
Separately, US International DFC said the guarantee of the debt infusion would help further its commitment to supporting India’s food and agricultural distribution sector.
Waycool was founded by Jayaraman, Sanjay Dasari, Vignesh Kumar Manogaran and Sendhil Kumar Natarajan in 2015. The company sells its products under the brand name SunnyBee.
The company distributes a wide range of food products including fresh produce, staples and dairy products. It moves over 250 tonnes of food every day to 8,000 enterprise clients across southern India.
Before the announced fundraise in February, it last raised capital from the Dutch development finance company FMO in November last year, and from Zurich-headquartered LGT Impact in early 2019.
Per VCCEdge, the data research arm of Mosaic Digital, WayCool reported consolidated net sales figures of Rs 193.64 crore and Rs 36.49 crore for the 2019 and 2018 financial years. The company also counts institutional lenders Northern Arc Capital and Caspian Capital as its other investors.
