India-based agricultural services provider DeHaat raised $30m yesterday in a series C round led by Prosus Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for media and e-commerce group Naspers.
The round was also backed by media, data and investment group AgFunder, Dutch development bank FMO and venture capital firms RTP Global, Omnivore, Sequoia India. Internet group Prosus and subsidiary Prosus Ventures are majority owned by Naspers.
Founded in 2012, DeHaat has developed a mobile app that provides agricultural services to more than 360,000 farmers across India. Farmers can purchase seeds and equipment through the platform, receive information about soil condition and weather, and sell their produce to institutional buyers.
Proceeds from the series C round will be used to further develop the company’s technology platform and expand its business into new areas of India.
Ashutosh Sharma, Prosus Ventures’ head of India investments, said: “Through its end-to-end agricultural services offerings, DeHaat will have a major societal impact in India, improving the earning potential for Indian farmers and overall yield for the sector while also enabling microentrepreneurs all over the country, including in rural areas where there is often less income opportunity.”
AgFunder and Omnivore provided $4.2m of seed funding for DeHaat in early 2019. Sequoia Capital India led its $12m series A round in April 2020 with participation from AgFunder, FMO and Omnivore.