Chennai-headquartered WayCool Foods has raised $32 million (about ₹227 crore) in a combination of equity and debt in its Series C round. The round was led by Venture Capital firm Lightbox and saw the participation of FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, as well as its current investor LGT Lightstone Aspada. The company has also partnered with InnoVen Capital to raise venture debt as part of this round. Veda Corporate Advisors was the exclusive advisor to the transaction.
Founded in July 2015 by Karthik Jayaraman and Sanjay Dasari, WayCool Foods 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. The company operates a soil-to-sale model, engaging with a base of nearly 40,000 farmers to improve farm income, while bringing efficiency through its direct supply chain model.
The company intends to use the funds raised to automate its supply chain and build the next layer of data analytics required to strengthen supply chain efficiency. It will also develop and expand its range of value-added products to enterprise and retail customers. The city-based start-up has previously raised two rounds of funding from Aspada, LGT Impact Ventures, Caspian Impact Investment, and Northern Arc Capital Ltd.