Agritech Startup Waycool In Talks To Raise $50-70 Mn At A Valuation Of Around $900 Mn

Agritech startup WayCool is reportedly in talks with multiple investors, including sovereign funds, impact funds, and family offices, to raise funding in the range of $50 Mn to $70 Mn.  

The deal is still in the works and it could still take an additional two to three months for the transaction to materialise, Entrackr reported citing sources.

As per the report, the agritech platform is likely to receive a post-money valuation in the range of $900 Mn, and may even cross the $1 Bn threshold if it manages to secure more funds in the upcoming round. 

Waycool would become the country’s first agritech unicorn if it crosses the $1 Bn valuation threshold, going ahead of its peers – Flipkart and Walmart-backed Ninjacart and Patna-based Dehaat.

Responding to Inc42’s queries on the development, a Waycool spokesperson told Inc42, “Fundraising in the form of equity and debt is a continual activity. The company continues to raise funds based on its expansion needs from existing as well as new investors, and we are in the process of doing so now as well.” 

Founded in 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, Waycool is a full-stack agritech platform that connects farmers looking to sell produce to retailers, traders, processors, among others. It also offers SaaS products for clients across domains such as procurement, processing and warehousing, distribution, among others. 

Speaking at Inc42’s ‘The Makers Summit 2023’ in March this year, Waycool cofounder Dasari said that the company was mulling a 2025 public listing. 

The reports of the fresh fundraise come a year after the agri-commerce player picked up $40 Mn funding in a round led by global alternative investment firm 57 Stars in June last year. Prior to that, in January 2022, it also bagged a massive $117 Series D funding from the likes of marquee names such as LightRock, Lightsmith, LightBox, IFC, among others.

It also invested an undisclosed amount of capital in logistics startup AllFresh in November last year. 

Waycool claims to work with more than 2 Lakh farmers and caters to over 1.65 Lakh clients across multiple sectors. 

Despite scaling up its operations, the startup continues to be saddled with loss. In FY22, its net loss zoomed 142% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 360.5 Cr. However, operating revenue surged 2.4X to INR 926.9 Cr from INR 382.3 Cr in FY21.

Waycool operates within the larger Indian agritech space which aims to solve the age-old problems plaguing the Indian agricultural sector with technology. As a result, the space has seen heavy interest from investors who have pumped millions of dollars in the startups operating in the sector.

As per an Inc42 report, the homegrown agritech ecosystem is projected to grow to a size of $24.1 Bn by 2025.