WayCool’s board allotted 3.92 Lakh shares to Lightrock India at ₹5,347 per share on March 6
WayCool focuses on food production and distribution, leveraging technology to scale and operate a complex supply chain from soil to sale
The startup claims to work with over 85,000 farmers via its engagement platform ‘Outgrow’ and sells products under seven different labels
Chennai-based agritech startup WayCool has raised ₹210 Cr (about $22.7 Mn) in a fresh funding round led by Lightrock India.
According to the startup’s MCA filing accessed by Inc42, WayCool’s board allotted 3.92 Lakh shares to LR India Fund I S.a.r.l., SICAV-RAIF at ₹5,347 per share on March 6.
Questions sent to WayCool cofounder Karthik Jayaraman and Lightrock India on the funding round didn’t elicit any response till the time of publishing this story.
Founded in 2015 by Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, WayCool is an agritech startup focused on food production and distribution. It claims to leverage technology to scale and operate a complex supply chain from soil to sale.
The startup claims to work with over 85,000 farmers via its engagement platform called Outgrow. It sells food products such as fresh produce, staples and dairy under seven different labels. Madhuram, KitchenJi, L’exotique, and Freshey’s are among its consumer brands.
Prior to this round, WayCool raised ₹38.2 Cr in a round led by Trifecta Capital, along with participation from Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures, in January last year.
In December 2024, the startup’s cofounder Dasari resigned. Following this, its chief people officer (CPO) and head of distribution Alex Augustine stepped down in February last year.
WayCool also fired 270 employees across various departments in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in 2024.
WayCool operates in the country’s rapidly growing agritech market which is set to grow from $9 Bn in 2025 to $28 Bn by 2030registering a 25% CAGR. India’s agriculture sector continues to grapple with outdated farming practices and low technology adoption. Agritech startups are leveraging technology to address this with data-driven tools, precision farming solutions, and digital marketplaces to modernise and revitalise the sector.
As a result, investors are backing agritech startups to capitalise on this opportunity. For instance, agritech startup Arya.Ag raised $80.58 Mn (about INR 725 Cr) in its Series D round in January.
However, profitability continues to be a challenge for agritech startups. While WayCool has not filed its financials for FY25 yet, DeHaat turned profitable in FY25 by reporting a consolidated net profit of ₹369 Cr. However, the profitability came on the back of a non-cash gain of ₹576.1 Cr during the year under review. Without this gain, the startup would have posted a loss of about ₹207 Cr in FY25.
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