Agritech startup DeHaat’s loss widened over 253% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 1,563.9 Cr during the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) on the back of a sharp rise in its miscellaneous expenses. The full-stack agritech platform had reported a loss of INR 442.62 Cr in FY21. 

Meanwhile, its revenue from operations surged 2.6X to INR 1,273.42 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2022 from INR 352.91 Cr in FY21. The startup also earned INR 13.19 Cr in other income during the period under review. 

Meanwhile, DeHaat’s total expenses rose to INR 2,850.57 Cr as against INR 798.20 Cr in FY21. Of this, ‘other expenses’ accounted for the biggest chunk of expenditure at around INR 1,484.10 Cr.

“DeHaat’s total business expenses for FY22 stood at INR 217 Cr. The remaining amount is a combination of cost of goods sold (INR 1,235 Cr) as well as notional adjustment on account of Compulsory Convertible Preference Share liabilities (INR 1,400 Cr) post equity fund raise as part of the Indian Accounting Standards (IND AS) which became applicable to DeHaat from FY22 onwards. There are no cash flow implications of the same,” said a DeHaat spokesperson.  

Purchases related to stock-in trade formed the second biggest expenditure in FY22 at around INR 1,351.93 Cr, growing 272% from INR 362.88 Cr in FY21. 

On similar lines, employee benefit costs shot up 280% to INR 110.56 Cr from INR 29.05 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2021. Employee benefits mostly comprise of salaries, provident fund contributions, gratuity, and other employee welfare expenses. 

Founded in 2012 by Amrendra Singh, Shyam Sundar, Adarsh Srivastav and Shashank Kumar, the startup operates a full-stack agritech platform that offers end-to-end agricultural services to farmers. From offering financial services for farmers to customised farm advisory, the startup has a plethora of products that cater to the agriculture sector. 

This comes close on the heels of the Patna and Gurugram-based startup raising $60 Mn as part of an extended Series E funding round led by Sofina Ventures and Temasek. In October, DeHaat raised $46 Mn from the same set of investors, bringing the total size of its Series E round to $106 Mn.

Till date, the startup has raised more than $300 Mn in funding across multiple rounds from investors.

With a last-mile supply chain in more than 1.1 Lakh villages across 150 Indian districts, DeHaat operates a network of 10,000 micro-entrepreneurs and serves more than 1.5 Mn farmers in 11 states. 

The startup largely competes with players such as Ninjacart, Absolute and Vegrow in the highly competitive and lucrative agritech sector. 

While agriculture has largely been considered an ailing sector in India, the entry of new-age tech startups has overhauled the space. Deploying emerging technologies such as AI, ML and Internet of Things, agritech startups have helped many farmers increase their yield by offering customised and affordable products.

These players have also leveraged their experience and footprint to partner with FMCG giants and big corporations to sell their produce and streamline market linkages for farmers to get the best price for their produce. 

Built at the heart of the critical agriculture industry, the agritech space is expected to see a major boom in the coming years as it is projected to reach a market size of $24 Bn by 2025.

(This story has been updated to include company statement and further elaboration on the total expenses incurred by the agritech company in FY22)