Agritech platform DeHaat has acquired Maharashtra-based business-to-business (B2B) agri-input marketplace Helicrofter for an undisclosed amount, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Helicrofter has over 2,000 agri-input retailers and 30 sellers across Maharashtra, marking DeHaat’s entry into Maharashtra which is in line with DeHaat's goal of footprint expansion.
The acquisition also marks DeHaat’s third acquisition. Last year, the company acquired FarmGuide. DeHaat is aiming for a pan India expansion of farmer communities and its micro-entrepreneur network over the next 10-12 months, it said.
Founded in 2020 by Siddhartha Choudhary, Helicrofter is a farm input e-commerce platform focused on doing away with supply chain inefficiencies in the rural ecosystem.
Helicrofter said it has been generating revenue since the very first month of its inception and has achieved an annual revenue of over Rs 50 crore.
Prior to Helicrofter, Choudhary was also the CEO at DestaGlobal, a farm input e-commerce startup, he started his career with Monsanto where he worked as product manager for cotton and vegetable business.
“We have been consistent with 35-40% growth in our network on a month-on-month basis, and this acquisition will cement our footprint into Maharashtra and thereby the Western part of India, which forms a major agri cluster for the nation. Over the years, DeHaat’s micro-entrepreneur network has grown to 4000 in Eastern and Central parts of India.
With the addition of Helicrofter’s network, we will now add a wide range of prospective micro-entrepreneurs from Western India to this list,” Amrendra Singh, Co-Founder of DeHaat said.
DeHaat, operated by Green Agrevolution Pvt Ltd, was set up in 2012 by Kumar, Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, and Adarsh Srivastav.
The company says its platform offers full-stack agricultural services including input distribution, customised advisory, access to financial services, and market linkages for selling produce.
In October 2021, DeHaat raised $115 million as part of its Series D funding round led by Belgium-based investment firm Sofina and Lightrock India. The company has raised close to $157 million since its inception in 2012.
Currently, DeHaat serves over 650,000 farmers across its platform. It has a network of 3,000 franchise agents on the ground acting as last-mile touchpoints for its customers.
The company, at present, has a strong foothold in the eastern part of India including the states of Bihar, Jharkhand.
With the fundraise, the company will look to go deeper in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2021. The company is also looking to expand its footprint across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chattisgarh.