City-based WayCool Foods and Products Pvt. Ltd. is planning to raise about ₹210 crore over the next few months to meet the expenditure for organic and inorganic growth.
“We have initiated talks with a few private equity firms and they will be concluded in the next few months,” said Sanjay Dasari, co-founder, WayCool Foods and Products Pvt. Ltd. The firm is planning to raise about ₹210 crore.
The start-up had raised over ₹260 crore in twos round of funding.
“The money will be used for geographical expansion, product expansion, inorganic and organic growth, automation and providing last-mile connectivity. We are in talks with a New Delhi-based firm that has technology to provide last mile connectivity. The details would be shared soon,” he said.
At present, WayCool has six distribution centres in four cities with a combined capacity of 100,000 sq.ft. and it plans to double it in the very near future. To start with, the firm would set up distribution centres in Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
The start-up sources 200 tonnes of fruits and vegetables daily from a network of 35,000 farmers in more than 50 regions and plans were on to enrol at least five lakh farmers through farmer-producer organisations.
Regarding automation, he said it was about 40% in three distribution centres in Chennai, while it was as high as 70% in Bengaluru.
