Agri & Agritech
Waycool raised Series C funding from Lightbox Ventures, FMO & LGT Lightstone
About
WayCool
WayCool operates a full stack, broadline product range across multiple channels and categories, serving general trade, modern trade, and food services clients. WayCool focuses on food development & distribution and leverages innovative technology to scale-up & operate a complex supply chain.
Lightbox
Lightbox is a Mumbai based venture capital firm that builds consumer technology businesses and has raised a total of $400 Mn. Recent investments include Dunzo, Bombay Shirt Company and Nua. It has also invested in Rebel Foods, Melorra, Embibe and other brands and tech enabled businesses.
FMO
FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO has a close to 50-year proven track record of empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food & water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 9.7 billion spanning over 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector developments banks.
LGT
LGT is the largest Private Banking and Asset Management Group in the world that is wholly owned by an entrepreneurial family, with over $200 billion of Assets Under Management. LGT Lightstone is LGT’s impact investing initiative to build a global multi-billion-dollar direct investing platform focused on scalable businesses that provide access to improved livelihoods, information and services for underserved consumers around the world.
Background
We are pleased to announce that our client, Waycool Foods and Products Pvt. Ltd. (“WayCool”), has raised $32 million in a round led by Lightbox Ventures. FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, and LGT Lightstone participated alongside Lightbox. The company has also partnered with InnoVen Capital to raise venture debt as part of this round.
WayCool, founded in July 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari is one of India’s fastest growing Agri-Tech companies.
WayCool procures, processes and distributes a wide range of food products including fresh produce, staples and dairy products, moving over 250 tonnes of food every day to 8,000 enterprise clients across Southern India. WayCool operates a soil-to-sale model, engaging deeply with a base of nearly 40,000 farmers to improve farm income, while bringing efficiency through its direct supply chain model. WayCool is developing a range of branded products and currently has brands such as Freshey’s, Kitchenji, Madhuram and Shuddha.
Veda Corporate Advisors (“VedaCorp”) was the exclusive financial advisor to the Company and its shareholders. VedaCorp provided comprehensive transaction advisory services including deal structuring and negotiation of key commercial terms, leading to the successful closure of the transaction.
This transaction further emphasizes VedaCorp’s capability in raising capital for technology driven new-age businesses across sectors. This marks VedaCorp’s 4th transaction in the Agri/Agri-tech space in the last 12 months and reaffirms our credentials as a leading advisor in this segment.
Karthik Jayaraman
Co-founder & CEO, WayCool Foods & Products
Atul Saraogi
Executive Director, Veda Corporate Advisors