Helicrofter
Creating a parking lander where people can park their cars.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
* | N/A | Acquisition | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
| USD | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Revenues | 0000 |
| EBITDA | 0000 |
| Profit | 0000 |
| EV | 0000 |
| EV / revenue | 00.0x |
| EV / EBITDA | 00.0x |
| R&D budget | 0000 |
Source: Company filings or news article
Helicrofter operates as a business-to-business e-commerce platform tailored for the agricultural inputs sector in India. Founded in 2020 by Siddhartha Choudhary and Vijai Kumar Chowdhary, the company established its headquarters in Mumbai. The platform was designed to streamline the supply chain by directly connecting retailers and community leaders with manufacturers of agricultural products.
The business model centers on enabling agri-input retailers to purchase inventory directly from manufacturers of seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and equipment through its digital marketplace. Helicrofter developed two mobile applications: 'Krofter Retailer' for direct procurement by retailers and 'Krofter', which provides farmers with market insights, information on advanced farming techniques, and a community-building platform. This approach aimed to offer competitive pricing and a wide assortment of products to retailers and farmers, while providing manufacturers with a sales channel outside their traditional distribution networks.
Siddhartha Choudhary, the founder and CEO, brought relevant industry experience to the venture. His background includes a role as a Product Manager at Monsanto and serving as CEO of DestaGlobal, another farm input e-commerce startup where he was instrumental in developing their technology stack. This experience in the agricultural ecosystem and e-commerce shaped Helicrofter's strategy.
In January 2022, the agritech firm DeHaat acquired Helicrofter in an acqui-hire deal for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the acquisition, Helicrofter had onboarded over 2,000 agri-input retailers and 30 sellers across Maharashtra and reported an annual revenue exceeding Rs 50 crore. This acquisition was a strategic move for DeHaat to expand its footprint into Western India. Following the acquisition, the Helicrofter team was integrated into DeHaat. The company had secured a total of $384K in funding over three rounds from investors including Axilor Ventures and DeHaat.
Keywords: agri-input, B2B e-commerce, agritech, agricultural supply chain, farm inputs, online marketplace, crop inputs, agricultural retailers, Siddhartha Choudhary, DeHaat acquisition, farm equipment, pesticides, fertilizers, seeds marketplace, Indian agriculture, Krofter app, rural e-commerce, farmer community platform, agritech India, supply chain efficiency, farm technology