Full-stack Agritech Platform DeHaat Acquires Food Tech Company Y-Cook With the acquisition, DeHaat plans to venture into the global food supply chain
By Akshit Pushkarna •
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Full-stack agritech platform DeHaat announced the acquisition of Y-Cook India. DeHaat, which offers end-to-end agricultural services to Indian farmers, aims to tap into the global economy for its users. Founded by Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, Adarsh Srivastav and Shashank Kumar, the agritech company operating primarily in eastern India, DeHaat is serving about 265,000-plus farmers in India at the moment. The 2012 established startup has achieved a growth rate of 3-4 times annually and was last valued at $158 million.
The news of the Y-Cook acquisition comes within three months of DeHaat's acquisition of Helicrofter, a B2B agricultural input marketplace in Maharashtra. The company is looking to expand their customer footprints across 15-plus countries with a wide range of fresh as well as processed products sourced directly from farms with 100 per cent traceability system, in the coming year.
Y-Cook India is a Bengaluru-based food technology company that has developed art for ready-to-use steamed produce and is a leading processor and exporter of sweet corn, and lentils. The company was established by Janardhan Swahar, Vijay Reddy and Gayathri Swahar in 2011 and has since expanded to nine countries, offering steamed snacks and ingredients. Y-Cook had earlier attracted investment from Omnivore Partners, Oikocredit and 021 capital, among others.
DeHaat has acquired a majority stake in the company and will lend strategic support to the company which would continue to operate as is with Swahar as the CEO. Commenting on the acquisition, Swahar says, "We are excited to join hands with DeHaat, the largest Agritech player in India. DeHaat and Y-Cook's vision synergises well, with both believing that good food starts from the farmer. At Y-Cook, we have always worked closely with farmers to not only ensure quality in the produce but also create sustainable farming methods securing soil for generations to come. We are very positive that this partnership is best positioned to unlock the full potential of the niche that Y-Cook has created."
"This acquisition provides DeHaat the opportunity to offer to our farmers' access to the niche market & customer base that Y-Cook has created both within India & abroad. The direct alignment of Y-Cook with our "Farmers First' vision to provide benefits to farmers motivated us to lead this transaction at a time when the Indian export market has grown to $50 Billion and is expected to grow further," Srivastav, Co-founder & Director, said on the acquisition.
