Agritech firm DeHaat made an announcement on Monday concerning its acquisition of Helicrofter, an agri-input marketplace startup. The acquisition was carried out with the goal of expanding DeHaat’s presence in Maharashtra as well as other parts of Western India. The integration of Helicrofter will be of substantial help to DeHaat in making its impact known far and wide. The deal value was not disclosed by the company to the public.
DeHaat
DeHaat is an agritech firm that kickstarted its journey in the year 2012. Based in Gurugram and Patna, DeHaat caters to the needs of the farmers and offers them end-to-end agricultural services enhanced by technology thereby adding to the efficiency and effectiveness of the services provided. DeHaat is the brainchild of IIT, IIM, and NIT alumni Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, Adarsh Shrivastav, and Shashank Kumar.
What sets this firm apart from the rest is the fact that they are striving to connect agriculture with technology, thereby working towards revolutionizing the supply chain and farming sector. Because although agriculture is a primary industry in India, it is yet to display a level of technological and digital dexterity and flexibility. Depending on the brick and mortar ways will not complement growth particularly in the present context of the pandemic which has underscored the necessity of being flexible and advanced technology-wise. This is where DeHaat comes in. The startup’s AI-powered technologies will be of substantial help in changing the face of the agricultural community in India. At present, DeHaat has made its presence known in Bihar, UP, Odisha, and West Bengal. With the acquisition of Helicrofter, it will be able to expand its services to other parts of Western India as well.
Helicrofter comprises more than 2000 agri-input retailers and 30 sellers across Maharashtra. Founded by Siddhartha Choudhary in 2020, the company has managed to achieve an annual income of Rs.50 crore. Choudhary kickstarted his career with Monsanto, working as a product manager for the cotton and vegetable business. He has also adorned the role of the CEO at DestaGlobal, a far-input e-commerce startup where his efforts at building the complete tech stack for input market linkage were laudable. DeHaat’s acquisition of Helicrofter will play a crucial role in the growth and progress of the agritech firm, backing its goal of pan India expansion. Helicrofter marks the third acquisition of DeHaat. It had acquired FarmGuide last year, which facilitated the integration of Satellite-based crop advisory solutions for farmers.
Investors supporting DeHaat include Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, RTP Global, FMO and Omnivore, Sofina, and Lightrock.