Farm-To-Fork Supply Chain Startup WayCool Bags $35 Mn From Lightbox, FMO

Chennai-based WayCool Foods and Products has raised $35 Mn (INR 250 Cr) Series C equity and debt funding round led by Mumbai-based venture capital firm Lightbox.

Netherland development finance company FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank and venture debt firm InnoVen Capital also participated in this round, along with Waycool Foods’ existing investor Lightstone Aspada.

In November 2019, FMO Entrepreneurial Development Bank had announced its plans to invest $5.2 Mn (INR 37.31 Cr) in WayCool Foods for Infrastructure development. FMO has also invested in other Indian companies like new energies business Orb Energy, SME lending startup Lendingkart, micro-lending startup Ftcash and digital payments startup Innoviti.

Karthik Jayaraman, cofounder and CEO, WayCool said, “Lightbox’s deep experience in technology and brand building will greatly help us as we strengthen our digital backbone and our move into value-added products. FMO’s guidance will be of the essence in building a culture of impact orientation across the organization and staying true to the course.”

WayCool Foods’ previous funding round was in January last year, where it raised $16.9 Mn (INR 120 Cr) equity and debt funding from investors like LGT Impact, Caspian and Northern Arc Capital. Lightstone Aspada came onboard as an investor in 2017 with a $2.7 Mn funding.

Founded in July 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, WayCool Foods is an omnichannel fresh produce distribution company. It distributes farm-sourced fruits, vegetables and other produce to local shops and modern retail outlets. Moreover, the company is working towards building a large food distribution business by creating an efficient and informed supply chain. Through which, it aims to fix the disorganised perishable supply chain. The company currently distributes 250 tonnes of products — produce, staples and dairy serving — daily, across its distribution channels to over 8K clients. The company sources its products from 40K farmers in southern India.

WayCool Foods has built retail presence in Chennai through the SunnyBee brand that operates retail stores and mobile stores on trucks. SunnyBee also sells other private label products and brands through partnerships with sister companies.

Besides WayCool Foods, Ninjacart is another big startup in the food supply chain market. The company sources fruits, vegetables and other products from farmers and distributes it to clients. Last month, the company raised $10 Mn (INR 71.83 Cr) in Series C funding round led by ecommerce giant Flipkart, which is working on expanding its B2C grocery delivery platform FarmerMart. Singapore-based GEC3 had also participated in the round.