Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company, AgFunder, is an investor in DeHaat.
Online agribusiness marketplace DeHaat has acquired farm advisory platform AgriCentral via a business transfer agreement in an all-cash deal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Olam International-backed AgriCentral is one of India’s largest advisory platforms for farmers; acquiring it will expand DeHaat’s reach to more than 12 million smallholder farmers in the country, the company said.
“AgriCentral’s cost efficient digital capabilities will complement us in reaching out to millions of underserved farmers with our full stack agri value chain offerings, while also helping us introduce multiple value-added services such as precision advisory, mechanization, insurance and cattle advisory to enhance the livelihood of our farmers,” noted DeHaat cofounder and CEO Shashank Kumar.
Building a one-stop-shop for farmers
DeHaat has spent the last 12 or so years turning its agribusiness marketplace platform into a one-stop shop that provides inputs, insurance, credit, market access and other services to farmers.
According to Kumar, the company now has more than 15,000 “DeHaat Centres” — franchise facilities located in rural bazaars — and works with over 1,000 input manufacturers, produce buyers, warehouse operators, and financial institutions. It currently operates across 12 Indian states serving over 120,000 villages.
Around 80% of India’s farmers are smallholders that typically work two hectares or less of land. While they are the backbone of India’s food system, they grapple with unreliable access to supplies and financial tools and deal with middlemen known to prevent fair pricing.
Agribusiness marketplaces such as DeHaat leverage digital technologies to help farmers circumvent some of these hurdles.
In 2023, the company expanded into biologicals via partnerships with two global biological input companies: US-based Global BioAg Innovation (GBI) and Australia’s Aussan Laboratorie.
In 2024, it launched a consumer brand, Honest Farms, which offers rice, spices and other stapes via ecommerce platforms around India.
Adding AgriCentral’s advisory service, which is powered by satellite imagery, machine learning and big data, allows DeHaat to offer more granular advice to farmers around things like crop care diagnostics, real-time market pricing and crop calendars, the company said.
At last check AgriCentral boasted more than 10 million users to its platform, all of which DeHaat will have access to thanks to the acquisition. This will quadruple DeHaat’s farmer network benchmark the company had set for itself in 2024.
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Author Jennifer Marston
