Private equity-backed B2B food and agritech platform WayCool Foods & Products Pvt. Ltd has invested an undisclosed sum in AllFresh Supply Management Pvt. Ltd (AllFresh) as part of the its strategy to create a Keiretsu in the global food supply chain, the company announced on Monday.
Keiretsu is a Japanese term referring to a business network made up of different companies, including manufacturers, supply chain partners, distributors, and occasionally financiers.
The investment from WayCool aims to help AllFresh further invest in its capabilities in post-harvest tech to enhance quality and extend shelf life. AllFresh will also benefit from increased access to WayCool’s deep and dense distribution network in India and the UAE.
WayCool aims to leverage Allfresh’s capabilities, as well as its network of apple and citrus growers, and farmers in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, among other locations, connecting their output to WayCool’s extensive network of over 1,25,000 retail clients.
“The investment in AllFresh will further strengthen our sourcing of premium apples and citrus from across India. WayCool already brings these products from global sources. Our investment in AllFresh, therefore, completes our supply chain capability and enables us to deliver fresh fruit year-round,” said Chinna Pardhasaradhi, Group chief financial officer, WayCool Foods.
Recently, WayCool invested in SV Agri, a potato supply chain and solutions company, which the company claims to have grown by over 2.5X since its most recent fundraise from WayCool.
AllFresh has been developing modern supply chains in the apple and citrus spaces, introducing tech to erode food loss and extend the shelf life of these products. The company in a statement says with an increase in prosperity, the consumption of premium fruit is expected to grow rapidly in India.
WayCool was founded in 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman, Sanjay Dasari, Vignesh Kumar Manogaran and Sendhil Kumar Natarajan. The startup distributes a wide range of directly-sourced fresh produce. It works with more than 150,000 farmers and operates a full-stack product range across multiple channels, to 100,000 clients, the company said.
In February 2021, the company raised Rs 227 crore in a combination of equity and debt funding led by VC firm Lightbox. Early backers FMO and LGT Lightstone Aspada had also invested in that round. In December 2019, it raised Rs 57 crore in a structured debt-funding round from non-banking financial company (NBFC) Samunnati, RBL Bank, and venture debt firm InnoVen Capital.
In June, WayCool raised $40 million from US-based alternative investment firm 57 Stars Global Innovation Fund.
In July, WayCool rolled out a venture for technology-based solutions to global food supply chains, for an investment of $20-40 million.
Private equity and venture capital investments in the agritech segment increased to $329 million in 2020 from $296 million in 2019. The segment will see significant investment and is projected to grow to a $30–$35 billion market by 2025, According to a Bain report last year.
For FY21, WayCool's revenue from operations grew 40% in FY21 to Rs 382.3 crore and its losses jumped 53% to Rs 148.69 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2021.
